Elsa-Unknown Life
by Phoenix 7.49
Summary: It was decided a thousand years ago - there would be a war of fire and ice. Six months into her incarceration, nine-year old Elsa meets someone who is immune to her powers. For the most part at least. A hotheaded boy who loves to fight, and a reclusive, selfless girl who hates violence. What could possibly go wrong? Actually, nevermind. Everything already has.
1. Prologue

**A/N:- Well, I'm new to this, so leave reviews. Suggestions on how to improve are always more than welcome.**

 **DISCLAIMER:-** **I owned naught but the plot and OCs yesterday, own naught but the plot and OCs today, and will probably own naught but the plot and OCs for the rest of eternity.**

* * *

 **PROLOGUE:-**

 **A LITTLE OVER ONE THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE FROZEN**

The kingdom of Magadan.

A legendary nation for multiple reasons, yet largely unknown.

To the common people, it was an insignificant presence. It yielded no valuable resources. It produced little crop. Covered in snow for most of the year. Its only exceptional feature was the efficiency of the fishing industry. In the wild and stormy seas, the fishermen learned how to best catch fish from a young age, and in a nation where farming was not an option, lives depended on the daily haul.

But there exist a set of people who saw it differently.

The set of people who could see what truly lay under the isolated appearance.

The reason why it was of infinite importance, while at the same time, insignificant.

 ** _Magic._**

An unnatural and mysterious force that defied the laws of nature.

An infinitely powerful tool with which to build the future.

An infinitely powerful weapon of mass destruction.

A place which Trolls, Elves, Goblins, Witches, Wizards, and every other magical creature regularly visited.

The place even attracted _Gods._

Magadan had magic unlike any other place on earth. Constantly visited by people from all over the world, it was the center of the magical world.

This was the city where the first ever wand had been crafted.

This was the city where Gaia, better known as mother earth, was created by God.

This was the city where a human singlehandedly put Gaia to sleep.

This was the city where the first human ever to wield the power of an elemental was born.

This was the city where Merlin learnt to perform magic.

This was the city where the Philosopher's stone was invented.

This was the city where the four founders of Hogwarts met.

However, most importantly, this city was the _only_ gateway to the _true_ North pole, the source of all of Earth's magic. This was the power that drew in gods. Many spent their lives in vain, searching for it. Although it was common knowledge that finding the north pole was nigh impossible, even for gods, every year, hundreds of beings would come to Magadan to search for it, half of them never returning. Yet, the tradition continued through the millennia.

 _Because it was worth it._

* * *

The lone alchemist scurried around the dark, messy room, her eyes scanning the hundreds of shelves, each containing thousands of bottles, varying in size from being as small a human tooth, to as large as a tall man. She picked up a bottle every ten minutes, carefully measuring its contents before adding them to a massive cauldron sitting over enchanted green flames which provided just the right amount of heat. The cauldron stood in the center of the room, twenty feet away from everything else. After adding an ingredient, the woman would look at the potion within closely, through several pieces of enchanted glass. She would then go to one of several tables, all cluttered with scrolls and notebooks, and write down the observations for about five minutes, and then the next ingredient would be measured and added, and the cycle would continue.

The woman was named Chelsea Cross. She was rather short, only five feet in height. Her hair was long and black, tied tightly in a bun. Her eyes shone Amber in the light of the fire, and her skin was pale, bordering on unnatural. Originally born in a magical family in Europe, she had set out at the age of fifteen in search of the fabled true north pole. She had not hesitated in immediately heading out to sea, searching relentlessly. A year later, she was still searching, her determination unwavering, when it happened.

 _She saw it._

Like a pathway to heaven, she had found herself looking at the entrance to the true north pole. She had eagerly steered her boat towards the entrance. But an instant before she entered, she felt the magic of that place pass through every fiber of her body. In that moment, she had been so terrified that she had leapt out of her boat and into the freezing waters. She swam as fast as she could for days, her fear ignoring the limitations of her body. Three days later, she was picked up by an ordinary fishing vessel.

She had been bedridden for an entire month, and in all that time, she could never forget what she had sensed.

It was easy to understand why even gods lusted after that power. Whatever the hell it was, it did not belong on earth. In fact, if she could, Chelsea would have been happy to rid that kind of power from the galaxy itself.

When she got out of bed, she had discovered that there was nothing of her old life left. Her family had moved, leaving no trace of where they went, and she had no personal belongings whatsoever, save for the clothes she wore and her wand. So she had done the most logical thing and decided to settle down in Magadan, and get an apprenticeship under the old, legendary Felix Felicis, the inventor of liquid luck.

Now she stood over the bubbling cauldron as the only living person with the knowledge of the location of the true north pole, a master of alchemy, having taken over the position of chief potions master of Magadan from Felix three years prior, hopefully on the verge of a breakthrough. The order she had received was extraordinary.

After all, why would the King of Magadan, an ordinary human with no magical roots, ask her to make something to protect the kingdom from invaders?

And why was it that at the exact same time, the magical community began seeking a device powerful enough to stop a god, should they in their selfishness decide to claim Magadan for themselves?

Chelsea consulted her notes again, before removing a small box from one of the shelves, no larger than the palm of her hand. She carefully opened it, and measured exactly one milligram of the glowing powder before adding it to the cauldron, and putting the box back in her pocket. She then went back to her desk and wrote down a few more pages worth of observations, while simultaneously consulting other notebooks and scrolls. And then she waited. He would be there with the final ingredient any time now.

And with a loud crack, he appeared outside the door. Chelsea opened the door to reveal the tired face of Godric Gryffindor. His pointy hat was bent out of shape, and his robes had been torn in multiple places.

"Hello Chelsea. Mind giving me some of that recovery potion of yours?"

Chelsea quickly ushered him inside, before locking the door, failing to notice that quite a few people were observing the interaction discreetly. "What on earth did you get into?" she cried as she handed him a gourd. "You look like you got into a fistfight with a mountain troll!"

"That Gothel woman was a lot stronger than she looked. And she was extremely protective of the flower." Godric explained. He took a swig from the gourd, and within a matter of seconds, his injuries had vanished and his strength was replenished.

"So, did you get it?"

"Yes I did." And with that, he took off his hat and stuck his entire arm in it. From within its depths, he withdrew a photograph of him and his wife, which he put back, a giant sword with a ruby in its hilt, which he propped against the wall, an extra wand, which he put in his robes, and some enchanted chocolates, which were snatched and devoured by Chelsea. Finally, he found the object he was looking for.

It was a small, black box, five centimeters wide, ten centimeters long, and one centimeter thick. He slid off the covering, revealing a single flower petal which glowed gold, bathing the room in its light. Carefully, Chelsea took it immersed it in a bottle which sat isolated on one of her desks. The petal was dissolved in an instant, and the solution glowed gold. Quickly, she poured it all into the cauldron, not even a single drop sticking to the bottle. She looked closely at the mixture, sighed in relief, and walked back to one of her desks, where she promptly wrote down another five pages of observations and calculations. When she was done, she raised her arms above her head and stretched, her back making popping noises which no one would consider healthy.

"What's been going on with you?" Godric asked.

"Nothing at all" Chelsea sighed "I've been stuck here for months on end, with nothing to do except work."

"Sounds like you were lonely."

"Of course I was. You are the only person I've talked to in this week. Speaking of which, why did it take you two months to find something that you should have found in two days?"

"Hey, I have a life, you know. I have a school to build, conferences to attend, rouge dark wizards to stop. And now I am going to have parental responsibilities as well."

"So you're going to be a dad?"

"Yes. I am."

"Congratulations! How much longer?" Chelsea asked, bouncing on her toes.

"About eight months." Godric instantly realized his mistake as a sinister expression formed on Chelsea's face.

"Oho! So that's why it took you so long! You were lazing in the job so you could have fun with your wife, eh?"

"I'm sorry." Godric said, falling to his knees and placing is head on the ground. "Please forgive me."

"Oh, fine" Chelsea huffed. "I can't stay mad at you for long anyway." Godric got up from the floor and sat on a chair, facing her. "So, what have you been up to?" She asked, and then added "Aside from your 'private time'."

"Oh don't be so cross, Cross." he said. She smacked her forehead with her palm. It was an extremely old joke which he had so _cleverly_ come up with.

"Okay okay, moving on." he said, under the intense pressure from her glare. "The construction of the school is going nicely, but Salazar is acting suspicious. Nothing too worrying, though. However, naming the school is more challenging than any of us thought. We're arguing over it day and night."

"Hufflepuff wins."

"But you haven't even heard what she suggested!"

"Don't need to. All I know is that she will win any argument that you four have."

"Oh come on! Salazar wants to name it the 'Wizarding school for Magical Families'. I can't even remember what Rowena wants to name it, it's so long. Helga wants to call it 'Hogwarts'. Hogwarts, I ask you! What sort of name is that for a prestigious school of magic?!"

"What do you want to call it?"

"The 'Dragonwing Institution of Magic'."Godric proclaimed in a proud voice.

"I'll visit Hogwarts when it's built." Chelsea said, her voice filled with mirth.

"Hey!"Godric protested, but was unheard by a laughing Chelsea. "It's going to be named 'Dragonwing Institution!'"

"Sure thing Godric. When your hat starts talking." At that moment, a solution to one of his problems appeared in his mind, but decided to save it for later. Instead, he decide to discuss a serious topic.

"Chelsea." The woman in question froze at the seriousness in his voice. "This weapon against gods thing…."

"I know." Chelsea said bitterly. "I don't like it any more than you do, but it has to be done. Everyone knows of the legendary selfishness of the gods, and clearing this city of life for their personal gain isn't much of a stretch. They may be immortal, but they have the maturity of a baby."

"But still…." Godric said "Something as powerful as this, which can be used by anyone. This is a perfect timing for something to go wrong."

"I know. Which is why there are safety measures. You need to be free of fear to be able to use it."

"Doesn't sound like much." Godric said skeptically.

"Trust me, it's much harder than it sounds. Being absolutely unafraid requires a unique type of mentality. I spent every day since I got back from _there_ training to become fearless, and let me tell you, it wasn't easy. I had to lie to myself every day, turning my fears into dislikes and escapes into wants. And in return, I lost my humanity."

Godric was silent for a moment. "That seems like an awfully unfair trade."

Chelsea chuckled darkly "Humanity is defined by fear. Overcoming fear is what it means to be human. If all fear is destroyed completely, then there is nothing left, except for a perpetual state of loneliness." Both friends were silent once more.

"So, what now?"Godric asked tentatively.

"Now, we wait. The potion is complete, and the reaction may start anytime this week and will continue for about a minute." The cauldron gave a loud hiss, and the flames beneath it were extinguished as the contents began to distort the fabric of reality around them.

"Or it could start right now. Why not?" Chelsea complained, rolling her eyes. She pulled open a drawer and removed her wand from within it. With a single wave, the floor below the cauldron disappeared, allowing it to fall through the floor and into a special room designed to survive explosions. The floor reappeared, and a muffled boom was heard.

Chelsea willed it, and the floor disappeared again, and a vast amount of purple gas was expunged from the explosion room. She slid on her dragon skin gloves and jumped down into the room. She picked up the resultant of the explosion in one hand, while Godric grabbed her other and hauled her up.

In her hand, she held a cylindrical object with a five centimeter radius and a two centimeter height. Looking from above, it looked like the Yin and Yang, consisting of two completely different shades of blue. One was dark blue, bordering on black, which seemed to suck her soul out of her. The other was significantly lighter in shade, and radiated energy which brought with it a promise of destruction. There were spheres of opposing colors on either side, roughly a centimeter in diameter, but it was hard to see them through the translucent material that made up…. whatever the hell she was holding.

"It looks like a ….. cake." Godric concluded. Chelsea sighed. Of course, only Godric Gryffindor would be able to compare a weapon on par with the gods to something as docile and edible as a cake. But her thoughts were interrupted by the repeated sounds of metal against gravel, accompanied by the sound of clanking armor.

 _Wait…..Armor?_

A second later, the door had been thrown open, revealing multiple royal guards, armed to the teeth. This was the drawback of Magadan- The constant flow of magic was so strong here that muggle repelling spells failed to work. It didn't help that the existence of magic was common knowledge to just about everyone on earth at this time. And thus, the primary defense of the magical world failed at the center of the magical world. There existed no greater irony.

"Pardon the intrusion." The tone of the voice was highly refined, and carried with it an air of authority. Its accent was exquisite, used only by noblemen. And there was only one person who fit all categories and would show up at this place.

Undoubtedly, King Erik of Magadan had arrived.

"Your Majesty." Chelsea curtseyed. Godric did nothing, choosing to remain eyes scanned the room, analyzing their positions. The king had six guards, four of them standing behind him, arrows at the ready, while the two in front had their spears pointed forwards. Even the king had his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to attack at a moment's notice. On the other hand, things weren't looking too good for Chelsea and him. Chelsea was unarmed, save for her wand in her robes. Not that it would make a difference, as she was a horrible duelist. He had his wand, but the moment he reached for it, three arrows and a spear were sure to impale him. And even if he somehow managed it, there was no way he'd be able to save Chelsea.

In simple words, he was in a lose-lose situation.

"That certainly looks interesting." King Erik said, his eyes focused on the cake. "But for a weapon against the gods, it looks underwhelming. May I see it?" he asked, his hand outstretched in front of him. It was not a question. Both Godric and Chelsea noticed that the archers' bowstrings seemed to be significantly tauter than they were seconds ago.

"Why do you want it?" Chelsea asked, her voice tense.

"Cant' a man be curious?"

"You're not fooling anyone, Erik. What do you want?" Godric said, his tone revealing open hostility.

"Godric Gryffindor" Erik said, finally taking notice of the wizard "It is truly an honor to meet a legendary wizard such as yourself."

"Don't change the subject." Godric warned. "I'll ask you again, what do you want?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"If you don't, I'll assume the worst, and consequently won't give it to you." Chelsea said, gripping the cake tightly.

"Tell me, potions mistress, what would you assume to be the worst?"

"World dominion? Becoming a god? Seems like it would match your personality."

King Erik sighed "I would gladly decline those accusations, but then I would be lying."

"Now, give me one good reason why I would even dream of handing it over to you." Chelsea spat.

"Chelsea Cross" Erik began "renowned witch, esteemed potions mistress, genius. You have discovered magic unlike any other, and if what I hear is true, you also know the location of the entrance of the true north pole." Godric's eyes immediately latched on to Chelsea. He had not known this. Erik continued speaking "You have the genius to be able to fight gods. So why do you limit yourself so? Why is it that you refuse to do your best? You could rule the world with the power that you wield. But you do not."

Erik's expression turned into a sneer "Because you are weak-willed. But I am not." He began to pace around the room, and he discreetly picked up a book from a table. "With this, I will be able to conquer all of earth, and you will be able to rule by my side." He turned towards Chelsea and drew up to his full height, distracting her from the guards' motions, who had now spread out through the room. "Why is it that you limit yourself to just this" he said, gesturing to their bleak surroundings "while you could have so much more." He was so close that she could feel his breath on her skin.

"Think about it." He whispered, his voice alluring. Chelsea bit her lip. It was tempting. Oh so tempting. She had lived her entire life in the darkness of the world, always having to draw the short stick. For her whole life, she had survived due to miracles and accidents, and never due to her own abilities. The idea of coming out on top for once was extremely attractive.

Meanwhile, Godric Gryffindor was in a pinch. In his eyes, there were only two outcomes to the current situation. If Chelsea accepted King Erik's proposal, he would have no choice but to get out of there. He was pretty confident that he would be able to get out by disapparating before any of the guards could hurt him. However, if Chelsea chose to oppose the king, he wouldn't be able to leave her behind. Which would in turn mean that the guards would kill them both. The only unknown factor in the current scenario was the source of power that Chelsea held in her hand. If she was going to oppose him, that cake had better be able to pack a punch.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Chelsea said, as two types of steam began to roll off the cake. One rose into the air, and the other descended towards the ground. "World dominion seems interesting, but having you at my side does not."

"Fine then." Erik said, every muscle in his body tensing "I suppose you needn't be by my side, then." He flicked his wrist, and an arrow was unleashed at Chelsea at point blank range. But by the time the arrow had been shot, Chelsea's gloves had disintegrated, and now the power flowed through her entire body.

The tip of the arrow made contact with her forehead, and as soon as it did, it disintegrated into nothingness, followed by the shaft, and in less than a blink of an eye, no remains of the arrow were left. Chelsea's arm shot out, accompanied by a burst of energy, at one of the guards who had taken aim at Godric. The man was hit square in the chest, and his arrow missed its target. Godric saw his opening, and in one fluid motion, he drew his wand and stunned the other guard who had an arrow pointed at him, While Chelsea simultaneously kicked the two spear wielders in their faces, causing their heads to be knocked clean off their shoulders.

But for a moment, they had forgotten about the last archer, who had expertly released his arrow, straight at the one vulnerable target in the room:- The cake in Chelsea's hand.

Chelsea gasped as the object in question slipped out of her hand and fell to the floor. Godric stunned the last archer, before catching sight of the rolling cake. At once, three figures leapt at it, but one got there significantly earlier than the other two.

King Erik snatched up the cake. "AHA!" He yelled "Victory is mine!"

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Godric yelled, before launching a vast array of spells at the man before him. But he may as well have been throwing drops of water at him, for all the good it did. King Eric stood unflinchingly as every spell was automatically deflected off an invisible barrier surrounding him.

"Is that it?"

Godric let out a scream of rage, before yelling "Avada Kedavra!" The killing curse was one he had sworn never to use, but it wasn't like he had a choice. But it made no difference, as the spell was harmlessly blocked yet again. Godric spared a moment to gather his energy, before unleashing a continuous stream of magic at his foe.

This time, Erik reacted by launching his own stream of energy to counter Godric's. He grinned sadistically as he slowly pushed back Godric's power, smirking when he saw the wizard looking at his steaming wand in horror an instant before it exploded, knocking the wizard back into a wall, effectively rendering him unconscious. However, Erik had forgotten that Godric wasn't the only threat in the room.

He saw, a moment too late, that Chelsea was rushing at him with a sword. Godric's sword. He let loose a burst of energy, but it was deflected by the magical blade, before it pierced his right hand all the way up to its ruby-fitted hilt.

But his hand wasn't the only thing the blade pierced.

It had also sliced the cake, perfectly splitting the Yin and Yang into two separate pieces. The blade had barely avoided touching the contrasting spheres of the symbol.

Chelsea twisted the blade, and Erik roared in pain as half of his hand was taken off, but yet he managed to keep his hold on one of the pieces. In one fluid motion, Chelsea picked up the fallen piece and darted to the other side of the room. Both of them stood facing each other, breathing heavily.

"Are you ready to die?" Erik said menacingly, gripping his piece with the bloody remains of his hand.

"Not yet." Chelsea retorted. Erik glared at her, before placing his piece in his mouth and swallowing. Chelsea had no choice but to copy. Pain shot through her entire being seconds later, and she fell to the floor. Her hair turned red, and her eyes began to turn a bright blue. Steam rose off her skin, and the ground around her began to melt, just as her strength returned to her, along with a lot more. She got to her feet and looked at Erik. His hair had turned white, and his eyes were icy blue. The ground around his feet had been frosted over. His injured hand had been replaced by one made of ice.

 _"How is this possible?"_ Chelsea screamed internally _"He can't possibly be fearless, can he? How did he gain access to the power?"_ She couldn't have possibly known that being the sixth born son, Erik had to abandon his humanity to get the throne in ways that would make most people sick to their stomachs. She pushed aside her thoughts and leapt at Erik. No matter how he did it, he had to be taken out now. They both crashed through the door and into the street. Passersby stopped whatever they were doing to look, and a few stepped back in fear.

There was an explosion of ice, and Chelsea was thrown into another house, her newfound powers preventing her from being killed instantly. Flames shot out from her palms and feet, and she flew right back at Erik. He jumped up with impossible strength, shooting towards the clouds, propelled by streams of ice and snow from his feet. She crashed into the spot where he had been, but instantly switched directions and flew right at him. He unleashed several massive bursts of ice, but Chelsea avoided most of them, vaporizing those which she couldn't dodge. A hailstorm with hailstones the size of houses rained down on the capital city of Magadan, bringing with them destruction. Magical and non-magical creatures alike screamed in terror as houses, people, and several other creatures were crushed beneath icebergs.

In the air, Chelsea and Erik threw attacks at each other, slowly but surely improving their proficiency over their new powers. Chelsea's clothes were burning off, being replaced by solidified flames. Erik's royal garbs gained a coating of ice, leaving the unnecessary parts to be burned away by Chelsea's attacks. Erik's new hand began to glow, and he slashed Chelsea across the face, leaving four parallel cuts from her left eyebrow to her chin. The cuts were fairly deep, but her injury glowed and began to heal rapidly. She summoned blue flames, and with all her focus, forced them to solidify into a large hammer. Erik's eyes widened as she struck him in the side of his head with the hammer made of blue fire crystals. Another strike, and he was sent flying towards the ground. Just for good measure, Chelsea threw the hammer after him. Erik landed hard, creating a crater in the ground. Then the hammer struck and exploded, destroying everything within five miles of the explosion. Chelsea gasped in horror when she saw what she had done, but before she could regret her actions, an avalanche exploded from the middle of the explosion in every direction, even larger than the explosion. Screaming people were swallowed by the walls of snow.

Those who could disapparate, did, but there was no mercy for those who thought they could hide. Every clash between Chelsea and Erik sent vast quantities of fire and ice in every direction, destroying more and more of what was the center of the magical world. Every burst of magic carried with it incredible power. Nothing less than their maximum output would be able to hurt the other.

Chelsea and Erik clashed yet again, and in an explosion of steam, both were thrown back. But before either of them could make a move, a spell detonated right in front of Erik, obscuring his view with smoke. With a wave of his hand, a burst of wind cleared the smoke in an instant to reveal Godric Gryffindor, panting, holding his spare wand in his hand. Erik growled in anger, and realized a moment too late that he had wasted precious time.

Chelsea's fist, burning with such intensity that it would blind most to look at it, made contact with Erik's solar plexus. His blood vessels exploded just as he was launched at speeds that made sound look bad with an almighty explosion. Erik was flung into the ground, creating a kilometer-long trench.

Chelsea nodded at Godric in acknowledgement, and flew after Erik. She landed at the end of the trench, but there were no signs of the king himself. Godric apparated next to her with a crack.

"So, he's been destroyed?" he asked hopefully.

She grimaced and shook her head "No. That wasn't enough to completely obliterate his body. He's escaped, but he's definitely wounded. He won't be bothering us for a while." The two old friends fell silent, surveying the destruction wrought upon the city. Several structures were on fire, while icebergs were scattered throughout the area.

"There's no fixing this, you know." Godric said at last.

"I know. Rebuilding this place will…."

"No, Chelsea. This place **isn't** going to be rebuilt. Given that hardly any non-magical people would have been able to escape, this is going to go down in history as one of the biggest failures of the magical community. Word of this will spread. No amount of memory alteration spells are going to get us out of this one."

"That means…"

"This is the end of Magadan as the center of the magical world. In fact, this will probably be the end of the magical world as we know it. We'll have to go into hiding, minimizing contact with non-magical people. There will have to be a statute of secrecy and everything. Everything will change."

Chelsea sighed "I know that saying I'm sorry isn't going to suffice, but still….."

"It doesn't matter." Godric said, cutting her off "We have more pressing matters to take care of."

Chelsea's expression was downcast "Right…." she said, and her armor once again began to turn into fire.

"I put up a shield spell around your lab. It's best that we go there first." Godric said before disapparating with a crack. Chelsea's feet and palms exploded with flames once again, and she flew towards her lab, knowing that Godric was very disappointed in her, as he hadn't taken her with him. In a matter of seconds, she had reached her home, only to see an aghast Godric. She landed next to him and gasped as well.

The entire interior of the room was coated in ice. "How…?" Chelsea managed to say.

"He must have gotten here first, and escaped when he heard me arrive. And he froze everything he couldn't take."

Chelsea placed her palm on the ice, and her disintegrating armor provided enough heat to clear a path for her. She twirled her fingers, and all the ice in the room receded in an instant. Her fire armor had disintegrated completely, leaving her stark naked, but given that she had just destroyed the magical center of the world, she couldn't care less. She went into her bedroom and put on whatever she got her hands on, before returning to the lab.

"Anything missing?" Godric asked. Chelsea scanned the shelves and tables with her eyes. Every scientist, librarian, and professor can tell at a single glance whether even a single tome is out of place, and it was no different for her.

"Rats. I know exactly what he found."

"Tell me, what did he find?" Godric asked scathingly "Your top secret recipe? An instruction manual on how to bypass the security system? Or the location to the entrance of the true north pole?"

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't risk revealing its location. It's too risky. No one should…."

"Save it, Cross. What did he take?"

Chelsea sighed yet again. It was all her fault, and she knew it. "No, none of those. He took the books on how the power affects the body. Each of our children will have part of the power, but not enough to have any external physical manifestation. Each of their firstborns will have the same amount of power, but when the family lines reunite, only the firstborn will once again have abilities like mine."

"So, not only do we have to worry about Erik, we also have to watch out for his kids?"

"Not all of them. All of his children will have a part of the power, but it will only be passed on to the firstborns from then on."

"Well, that's one piece of good news. Now pack up and let's go." Chelsea nodded and picked her wand off the table, exactly where she had left it. With a wave, parchments and tomes flew through the air, neatly packing themselves in sacks. Chelsea picked them up with ease, being far stronger than she used to be, and followed Godric out what was left of the doorway.

"Just one thing left." Chelsea said. She clenched her fist, and flames began to form around her head. A burst of energy shot from her forehead, and the lab caught fire, the enchantments burning away.

Both of them walked in silence, until they reached the docks. "Godric, you don't have to do this. This is all my fault. You have a school to build, a child to raise. As a matter of fact, I can't allow you to do this."

"You're going to stop me?"

"You may be the greatest duelist of our age, but you are no match for Erik."

"And if I decide to ignore your warning?"

"I'll tell your wife that you saw me naked."

"Oh, well played Cross."

"Relax, Godric. This isn't your war. You deserve to be with your family. Grow a beard or something. As it stands, I'm pretty much the only person in the world who can take him out. Trust me on this one."

"Are you sure you want to do this alone? It would be pretty handy to have some help."

"Thanks, but no. I can't risk your safety. The others would never forgive me. Besides, I've always wanted to do something like this!"

"Something like this?" Godric asked, puzzled.

"Yeah! Fighting against an evil tyrant, in an epic battle that will decide the fate of the world!"

* * *

 _ **A/N:- Yeah, the original prologue sucked. so I've updated it with this. Much more mystery!**_


	2. First Meeting

**A/N:- New chapter (Duh).**

 **DISCLAIMER:-** **I owned naught but the plot and OCs yesterday, own naught but the plot and OCs today, and will probably own naught but the plot and OCs for the rest of eternity.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1 - FIRST MEETING**

It was winter in Arendelle. The fjord was partially frozen, and ships cautiously made their way between icebergs. Most people wore thick, fur-lined winter clothes. But there was one boy who arrived at the docks that day who was completely different from the others. He wore only a pair of pants that came down to his knees, and a shirt that came to his elbows, with a bag slung over his shoulders which looked like it was made for someone four times his age. But there was something else about him that seemed to draw everyone's attention. It was as if he was surrounded by a powerful aura that drew every eye. The boy seemed oblivious of the looks he was getting, and he made his way to the end of town, and then disappeared into the forest.

He sat down with his legs crossed, closed his eyes, and meditated. Almost instantly, he sensed a vast source of magic in the nearby mountains. He kept grumbling as he started to run, slowly at first, but within a minute he was running impossibly fast, avoiding trees with unnatural grace. Anyone who saw him would convince themselves that they were imagining things. Soon, he reached the source of the magic that he had sensed.

"The valley of the Living Rock." he breathed. The power that rolled off the boulders around him was enough to match his own. The trolls must be near. He sat on a rock and focused on the aura of his power, enhancing it. Any magical creature, such as trolls, would sense his presence and come to investigate.

Suddenly, the boulder he was sitting on shook. And then, to his absolute surprise, the rock talked "Excuse me, but do you mind? I'm trying to take a nap here!" The boy gazed on, dumbfounded, as all the boulders began to roll towards him. They all stopped five feet from him, and they uncurled to reveal that they _were_ the rock trolls.

"When mum said 'valley of living rock' I didn't think she meant it literally." he said out loud, glancing around in awe.

One of the trolls cleared his throat and said "I am Grandpabbie, chief of the rock trolls. May I know who you are, child, and how you came by this power?" The boy noted that this troll was clearly the oldest, and the most experienced in magic. The power coming off the old troll was ten times more than what he himself could produce even while putting his mind to the task.

"My name is Espen." he said "I got these powers from my ancestor, Chelsea Cross. My mother said that You would know where the ice wielder is? She sent me to train them." At the mention of his ancestor's name, a few of the trolls' eyes widened.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Espen, legacy of Chelsea Cross." said Grandpabbie.

"Likewise, Grandpabbie." said Espen.

"The ice wielder whom you seek is crown princess Elsa. But go easy on her. At the moment, she might be emotionally unstable."

"Thank you, Grandpabbie." said Espen. The old troll bowed to Espen, and he returned the gesture. All the trolls balled up and rolled away. Espen stared a moment longer at their perfect disguises, hiding in plain sight. "See you guys around!" he said, and walked back towards Arendelle.

Once he was out of hearing range of the trolls, he let his exasperation loose. "Ugh! I can't believe this!" he said to himself. "Why do I have to train someone? Can't they train on their own? I mean, you tell them one or two sentences about harmonizing with their element and done! And it just had to be a princess. All pampered and high- and - mighty. No physical training at all! I will have to do everything! She probably can't tell one end of a sword from the other. Ugh, Espen, you idiot, how do you get yourself into these situations?" and with that, he began running at full speed. Within minutes, he had cleared the forest, and reached the edge of the fjord, having circumvented the whole city, leaving only water between him and the castle. He crouched down near the water and assumed a meditating position, with his palms pressed against each other near his chest. He extended his senses, focusing on the castle. A minute later, he groaned and opened his eyes.

"Perfect." he said "Just perfect. Karma had better give me a lot of happiness for this. The princess' room just had to be that high up. Any higher and I swear she would be in the attic. If castles have attics, that is. Grr, now I have to get into a room fifty feet off the ground without being spotted."

He took in a deep breath "Calm your mind, Espen. Focus on what you want to do. See only what you want to see. Focus within yourself. Extend yourself. Command your surroundings." he told himself. He released a long breath and immersed his hands into the waters of the fjord. Slowly, fog rose off the water, reducing visibility to three feet. But Espen did not need his eyes. He stepped behind and burst into a sprint, even faster than before. He ran right _onto_ the water. Whenever his feet made contact with the water, they left behind a puff of steam. But his feet were in contact with the water for less than one tenth of a blink of an eye. He ran swiftly across the water, his feet barely sinking an inch, towards the castle.

He ran up to the castle wall which faced the fjord. He stopped at the base of the wall. He pressed himself against the wall, his feet on a thin ledge. He withdrew two knives from his bag. He then closed his eyes and concentrated on the knives, which gained a reddish glow. He then plunged the knife into the wall. Using it as leverage, he slowly pulled himself up. Then he stuck the other knife in, and freeing the first one pulled himself up again. Within minutes, he had scaled the wall.

He couldn't see anything through the fog that he had created, but he could still see the guards by the heat their bodies were giving off and also by the heat of… wait was that hot chocolate that he smelled? Espen was immediately distracted from his mission. He stealthily ran across the top of the wall, to above where the guards were sitting. He began to plan on how to steal a mug, his senses picked up a surge in the energy around him. He looked up towards the castle. He was about to meditate to find the princess' room, but then he noticed one thing that was different about one window than all the others.

 _It was_ _ **open.**_

No one is crazy enough to leave a window open in the middle of winter.

' _No one, except perhaps a certain princess who is immune to the cold.'_ he thought. It would be impossible to climb that distance before the guards noticed, even with his speed. He needed a distraction. He looked around, and grinned.

 _'YES! Time to cause a little chaos.'_ he thought.

He intensified his gaze at a specific point on the top of a guard tower. He only had to wait a few seconds. He had successfully melted a specific bit of snow, which caused the whole snow covering to slide off the roof, and land with an almighty crash onto the courtyard. The crash also masked the sound of him jumping thirty feet into the air and sinking his knives into the castle wall. While the guards rushed over to see what happened, Espen climbed the remaining five feet to the open window, and slid in. He gave a short, exhilarated laugh and turned around to come face to face with an eight year old crown princess Elsa.

'Okay, she is beautiful.' was the first thing that came to Espen's mind. ' _Wait, where did that come from?_ ' was the second. Her hair was white, her skin far paler than normal. But it was her eyes that took his breath away. They were an icy blue, and he could see the sheer power behind them, just wanting to be let loose. "Hi!" said Espen. _'Seriously dude, hi? That is the only thing you could think of to say to a princess. Nice going, brain'_ "Who are you?" asked Elsa "And what are you doing here?"

"Princess Elsa, my name is Espen, and I have travelled a long way to meet you."

"You should leave, before something bad happens to you."

"I've seen plenty of bad, princess. I doubt that you could get me into trouble."

Elsa was cowering in a corner now "No! don't come any closer! I could hurt you."

Espen took another step towards Elsa "Princess, I doubt that you could hurt me even if you tried to."

Suddenly, a burst of magic shot out of Elsa, hitting Espen square in the chest, blasting him out the window and into the waters of the fjord. Elsa gasped in horror. She had hit someone with her magic! Granted, he was an intruder in the castle, and she had the right to kill him, but it was wrong. She could see him in front of her eyes now, slowly turning into ice, calling her a monster with his dying breath. She had to take him to the trolls, maybe they could do something. She looked outside her window, and saw him swimming in the water.

She looked down, and on seeing that there were no guards nearby, she shot her magic downwards, creating a pile of snow, and then she jumped. She had a soft landing. She got up and ran to the wall, and formed an ice staircase which was barely strong enough to support her weight. Once she reached the top of the wall, she kicked the stairs with all her might, and the stairway shattered. She then created an ice slide towards the boy and slid down. She carefully set her foot on the fjord, freezing the water below her feet. She pulled the now thoroughly soaked boy onto her ice raft.

 _'Espen. That's what he said his name was.'_ She dragged him across the fjord to the shore, ice forming beneath her feet, but not spreading much. She lay him on the ground, and checked for the tell-tale signs of a frozen heart, just like what had happened to Anna. But to her surprise, she saw nothing. His hair was still a vibrant red, his eyes were still fiery blue, _and he was not shivering._ Elsa did a double take. He was wearing summer clothes in the middle of winter, had just fallen into freezing waters, and had been struck by her magic in the chest. Elsa _knew_ that no ordinary human could survive that.

"Who are you?" Elsa asked " And how are you not cold? And how did you survive that?"

"I told you" Espen said. "My name is Espen. I come from far away. The cold doesn't bother me and you couldn't hurt me even if you wanted to." He extended his palm and it ignited, wreathed in red flames. "In fact, given your level of training, you would faint of over-exertion by the time you caused any significant damage to me.´

Elsa just stared at him open-mouthed. So far, she thought that she was the only one with such powers. "How… how did you know where to find me? Elsa asked.

"Well" replied Espen "My mother told me to find the rock trolls on the forest near here, and that they would tell me to find you once I told them that I am the descendant of Chelsea Cross. And they did."

"But how did you know about my curse?" Elsa asked.

Espen looked confused "What curse?" he asked "My ancestor, Chelsea Cross created our powers, and one of the extra effects is that only the most powerful curses can affect us. And if you were under the influence of such a curse, the trolls would have told me about it."

"My curse! Elsa said a little loudly "Our curse! These!" she said forming snow in her hand.

Espen's expression went from confused to shocked to outright dangerous. "What do you mean, curse?" he said with a low growl.

Exasperated, Elsa said "This curse! Our curse! These freakish powers! Your ancestor invented it, right? Maybe there is also a way to remove them! We have to get rid of them as soon as possible!" Espen was on the verge of losing his temper. He had been taught to control his anger, but this was pushing it. He didn't care that she was a princess, but at that moment, he wanted nothing more tan to kill her where she stood.

"This is not a curse." he said in low, dangerous voice "This is the best thing that could happen to anyone."

"No, it isn't!" Elsa yelled "These powers do nothing but hurt people. They don't make us special, they make us monsters! This curse makes you a constant danger to everyone around you! Wouldn't you do anything to get rid of this burden?" Espen was so angry that he accidentally set his own hair on fire.

"'Powers only hurt people'? 'Monster'? Who has been teaching you this stuff? Do you have any idea about the amount of power you wield? All the good they can do? Your blessing makes you a god! Not a monster! And even though there is the burden of possibly hurting my family, I wouldn't trade it for the world, because my gift will save them when it counts. People kill for this kind of power. Your ancestor, King Erik from a thousand years ago conquered Arendelle and many other countries single-handedly by using his powers! Even he, a tyrant, was better than you, a weak, pathetic, stupid little girl." he yelled.

"Well, I wish I never had these blasted powers!"

Espen gasped. "You just rejected a gift of power. Your powers will abandon you.."

"YES!" Elsa yelled in joy "I'm going to lose my curse! I'm going to lose my curse! Wait a minute, it was that easy?"

"Let me finish!" Espen snapped. "Your powers will abandon you when you wish you had them the most. You will beg for them, but you will have to face great trials without them to gain your powers back, and you will!"

"No I won't!" Elsa cheered "Because once I am free of this curse, I am never going to want it back!" Espen's anger faded, as he saw the truth. In fact, anger was replaced by…

"Pity. That is the only thing I feel towards you." Espen told Elsa "You reject the gift of power given to you just because of petty insecurities, and refuse to save all the people that only you could. You were right- you **are** a monster." ' _You are a monster.'_ Those words hit her hard. Tears began to form in her eyes.

"What did you come for?" Elsa asked, her voice cracking.

"My mum sent me to train you." said Espen. "Physical training, powers training, mental training, the whole lot."

"Will I be able to control my powers better after training?" Elsa asked with a hopeful tone in her voice.

With a sigh, Espen responded "Yes. Training starts at four o clock tomorrow."

"Isn't four a little late to start?" asked Elsa.

Espen laughed and said "Not four in the evening. Four in the _morning_." Elsa was gob smacked. "I'll meet you here tomorrow." he said, and walked to the forest. After a few steps, though, he turned back and said in a grim tone "Just because I'm training you doesn't mean that I want to. If I didn't appreciate my parents wisdom and the trolls' advice, I would have killed you for what you said earlier. And I will put you through hell until you regret what you said." and with that, he ran into the forest.

Elsa looked at the place where Espen disappeared. She thought about what he had said. He had wanted to kill her because she wanted to protect her sister from her powers. _'He must not love anyone.'_ Elsa thought _'Otherwise he would want to get rid of his powers too. He is the monster.'_ She also momentarily considered the possibility of using her powers to do good, but the image of Anna lying lifelessly in her arms came to her mind, and her powers became her curse once again, as she made her way across the fjord towards the castle.

* * *

 **Author's note:- First off, Espen isn't OP when compared with Elsa. Sure, for the first few chapters he will seem to be able to take on ten Elsas at a time and win, but keep in mind here that Espen has been encouraged to use us powers and develop them since the moment he was born. Elsa, on the other hand was restricted from using her powers, and the most she ever did with them was to use them for games with Anna. SPOILER ALERT! Elsa will later on turn out to be the most powerful elemental to ever exist. So much, that she will appear on chocolate frog collection cards. Also, Espen will not be around when the events of the movie take place (And they will- just a little differently. For example- oh never mind. I've given enough spoilers already. But Espen will not be there because he will go with Elsa's parents on their fatal voyage and die. Or will he?**


	3. Training Begins

**A/N:- And training has begun. It will be tough, it will be rough, nd it will make them buff! But it will take ages for training to actually begin.**

 **DISCLAIMER:-** **I owned naught but the plot and OCs yesterday, own naught but the plot and OCs today, and will probably own naught but the plot and OCs for the rest of eternity.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2**

 **Training Begins**

Espen made his way to the inn where he had booked a room before leaving the kingdom of Almalos. Money had never been a problem for him. All of the firstborns were better than ordinary people. They could run faster, think faster, act faster, and were stronger than most people. So they did better at their jobs, and also got paid better. And over a thousand years, his family had accumulated quite the fortune. Elsa's family were royals, and this was the reason why the kingdom of Arendelle had been so strong, both economically and militarily. This was why Arendelle flourished more than just about any kingdom.

Espen banished his history lessons to the back of his mind and made his way to his room, where he had stored the rest of his belongings. He took out a piece of paper, a quill, and an ink pot, and he began to write. He narrated the events of the day, putting all his fury into the letter, writing down several swear words which were considered inappropriate for people thrice his age, before remembering that his mother was going to be reading this letter, and things would not end well for him if he did. He quickly blotted them out before continuing. _'Mother, in light of this, I am doubtful if she is even worthy of being trained. Perhaps I should finish her. She is a loose cannon, and it seems that she has been taught to hate witchcraft and wizardry since birth. Write to me quickly. I shall await your advice. Meanwhile, I shall try to train the weakling as best as I can. Love, Espen Azul.'_

He put down his quill and closed the ink pot. He walked to the window. His parents had told him that wizards all over the world had trained owls to deliver messages. He looked out the window. He sharpened his gaze, so much that if a normal person saw through his eyes, they would deem it unnatural. He finally spotted what he was looking for. About a mile away, he could see a barn owl, sleeping in a tree. He focused his energy, and changed the temperature around the owl by a few degrees. It took notice of him, and it flew towards him and landed on the window sill.

"I need you to take this to Charlie Azul in the kingdom of Almalos. Could you do that?" Espen asked the owl. _'Who do you think you're asking, human? Couldn't you have at least waited until nightfall?'_ It seemed to say. "Sorry for waking you." Espen said "Here, I can help you get a good start." He touched the owl on the neck, and channeled a fraction of his energy into the owl. The owl immediately straightened up. Espen put his letter in an envelope, and gave it to the owl. The owl grabbed it in a talon, and took to the sky. Espen watched it disappear into the clouds, but he could still see the heat it gave off, until the cold winter clouds completely blocked its heat.

Espen stretched out. He left his room, and walked out of the inn. He needed a proper place to train the princess. He still couldn't bear to summon her name to his mind. He had never been so disgusted by a single person. And that was a lot from someone who had a younger brother _and_ a younger sister. He mentally shuddered at the thought of the twins, and continued walking through the city.

 _'She has powers beyond imagination of mortals, and she fears them. She could freeze entire armies where they stand, she could destroy mountains, she could change the world. the only ones who can defeat her are elementals and gods. The gods don't mess with us most of the time, and elementals have better things to do than go around destroying wielders. What is left to fear?'_

He continued his rant in his head. When he walked past a Christmas shop, all the candles in the window melted into puddles of wax. The snow at his feet turned to steam, leaving the pavement bone dry. He noticed the odd looks that he was getting, and took a deep breath, drawing his powers into himself. He exhaled, calming his anger and continued walking. This time the pristine snow barely melted under his feet. Once he was out of the city, he burst into full sprint, occasionally taking jumps higher than the treetops. Within three hours, he had completed what would have been half a day's journey on horseback. So far, he had seen only a single establishment that said 'Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna.'

He looked across the vast landscape from his vantage point on the top of a mountain. He could see everything from up here. Well, at least he turned around to find himself facing even taller mountains. He took out from his pocket a map which he had purchased previously. He looked between the map and his surroundings. Surprisingly, for some reason the trading post was mentioned on the map, even though Espen had he ability to accidentally destroy the place with a sneeze. In the distance, he could barely see the tip of the north mountain, the tallest peak within a thousand miles. It was quite far, but he could make it there and back until three in the morning, with an hour to spare before training Elsa. He removed his shoes and socks. He knelt on one knee, putting his hands on the ground. He let his energy flow to its maximum potential, a crazy grin appearing on his face. His power expanded, vaporizing all the snow within twenty feet of him. He felt invincible strength flow through him. He had to consciously focus on not setting his clothes on fire. And then with a mighty jump, he took to the air.

He released streams of fire from his hands and feet. He was not powerful enough to maintain flight just yet, but he could jump large distances. He made it to the top of the next mountain. He continued running without skipping a beat, and jumped off a ledge onto the next mountain. He continued running and jumping across mountains, passing a group of ice harvesters once. He was pretty sure that they didn't see him, but there was one who did see him jump off a cliff and onto the next mountain.

"Whoa! Sven!" shouted an amazed Kristoff "We have got to try that one out someday!" _'You're nuts, Kristoff._ ' thought Sven.

Espen continued jumping and running without stopping. He could see the north mountain right ahead of him, but it was a 200 foot drop, and the valley was wider than Espen had ever tried to jump. _'Well, first time for everything'_ he thought. Espen increased his speed, faster than he had ever gone before. He felt a surge of power in his body. At the very edge of the precipice, he leapt off and propelled himself forward by releasing powerful blue flames from his hands and feet. He grinned wildly. He was going to make it! But then, gravity took hold, and he began to lose altitude.

"Oh no." was the only thing he managed to say, before he slammed into the cliff face, shy of the edge by just thirty feet. He lost his grip and fell.

Espen landed face first in snow that had to be at least twenty feet deep. His powers had melted a hole right to the ground, unfortunately. An ordinary person would have been crushed on impact, but Espen's internal power prevented him from taking much damage, especially from trivial things such as 200 foot drops. He only felt the amount of pain and ordinary person would feel after being punched in the nose. "Owowow." Espen said, trying not to breathe through his nose. After a minute, the pain subsided, Espen climbed out of his hole in the snow and looked around. This valley was familiar. Yes, he had run through here on his way to the valley of the living rock. It would be about a half-hour walk from here. Espen looked at the 200 foot wall of rock in front of him. He could not jump that high, and climbing it would take ages. He looked around, searching for something, anything to use to his advantage. Nothing but snow.

Wait, snow! That was the solution! He shot fire at a few boulders (after ensuring that they were not rock trolls), melting them. He manipulated the heated rock to cover a large area of snow. The result was a very thin layer of rock the size of the castle courtyard. Espen then focused his energy _below_ the rock sheet, or to be precise, the _snow_ under the rock sheet. The snow immediately turned to steam, creating a huge amount of pressure. Espen waited for the pressure to increase until the steam started leaking from beyond the rock sheet, and then melted a small circle of rock right underneath him.

"Wahoo!" yelled Espen as the sheer pressure of the steam blew him over 500 feet into the air. He shot fire from his hands and feet, maneuvering so that he landed on the peak.

Espen personally knew that his siblings would kill for this view.

"Wow" was the only thing that he could say. In one direction, he could see an endless mountain range, and in the other, he could see a few dozen mountains, then a few hills, and finally, on the horizon, he could see the ocean, combined with a perfect sunset, the last rays of orange reflecting spectacularly off the snowy mountains. On the very edge of the horizon where the sky met the sea, it looked as if the whole horizon was on _fire_. Perfect was the only word to describe it. He got lost in the view, until the sun had long since set, and he realized that he would have to rush to make it to the castle on time. He quickly looked around, but darkness had fallen, and he could not see anything that far away. He sighed. Finding a training spot for Elsa would have to wait.

The normal route would have taken days to cover, hours for Espen, but his recently discovered shortcut helped. He jumped off the 200 foot drop and landed on his rock sheet, which shattered into small rocks, which no one would give a second glance to. He took off, running and jumping far faster and longer than any ordinary person. He retrieved his shoes from the top of the mountain where he left them. He then continued running towards the castle, making it to the wall just as the town clock struck four. At this point, Espen thanked his grandparents for teaching him how to use his powers to fight sleep. His powers energized him, leaving no need for sleep. Sure, he did need his sleep, just not quite as often. Once in three days was enough for him. He checked for guards, and on seeing none, he leapt from window ledge to window ledge until he reached Elsa's window. He nudged the window open and pulled himself in.

Even in her sleep, Elsa looked like a princess. Regal. Espen thought that if she just had courage, no one would dare challenge her, even without her powers. She already looked like the queen she would one day become. Espen summoned a small flame in his hand, bathing Elsa's face in a crimson glow. He let the flames lick at Elsa's face. Elsa's powers would protect her. Elsa mumbled and opened her eyes, only fire lapping at her face. Espen immediately extinguished the flame.

Elsa immediately scrambled back, feeling her face. When she found nothing wrong, and felt no pain, she looked at Espen and asked "What did you do?"

Espen only smirked and said "Would you like to find out?" Elsa nodded mutely.

Espen led Elsa to the window and picked her up bridal style. "What are you doing?!" Elsa shrieked.

"Well, princess" Espen replied "Do you have another way of getting out of the castle unseen?" and without waiting for an answer, he leapt from the window and into the fjord. Luckily for Espen, Elsa knew how to swim. They made it to the shore, and Elsa immediately began yelling bloody murder.

"What the hell were you thinking!" she screamed at Espen "You could have killed me!"

Espen glared at her and said "But I didn't!" He walked over to Elsa and touched her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Elsa asked suspiciously.

"This is exactly why you should have magical training!" Espen yelled "If you did, then I wouldn't have to do _this_!" Espen sent a surge of his power into the air surrounding him and Elsa. Their clothes immediately began to steam, and dried off within seconds.

"Now" said Espen "To be able to perform to your greatest capacity, you need to be physically fit. By the looks of you, I don't think you could lift a sheet of paper. No arguments" he said when she opened her mouth in indignation "So, we will start with the basics. No sword fighting for a few more years. Now run until I stop. Follow me." With that, he started jogging at the speed of a normal person. After a few feet, he looked back to check on Elsa, only to see her standing at the exact same spot, unmoving.

"Well, come on! We haven't got all day. Well, technically we do, but that's no excuse! Come on, chop chop. Let's go!" said Espen.

"And how am I supposed to run in this?" Elsa asked, gesturing to her nightgown, which looked like it was specifically designed to hinder running. How Anna managed to run in hers, Elsa would never know.

"Well, we'll have to do something about that for tomorrow. Today, I'll cut running time in half, then I'll get you started with basic exercises." Espen said after thinking for a second.

"So, how much do I have to run now?" asked Elsa.

"As much as you can in an hour." was Espen's nonchalant reply.

"AN HOUR?!" exclaimed Elsa "I thought you said you'd halve the running time!"

"I did halve it!" Espen replied indignantly "I halved it from two hours to one! Now let's get moving! I want to run you through the basic training before sunrise." Elsa sighed, and started jogging after Espen, who was running backwards, facing Elsa, into the forest. Oh boy, this was going to be a long day.

* * *

 **AN/- _And Elsa has officially begun training. Espen will be physically stronger and more capable than Elsa, but that is without using their powers. After all, look at Superman. If Superman had intelligence, he would be undefeatable. If I give Elsa too much physical strength she would be able to end the final showdown in minutes. Also, she would kill Espen if he didn't have any advantages over her initially. Suggestions and constructive criticism welcome, Elsa is fireproof, and will hence be unaffected by flames. R &R. Phoenix 7.49 out. _**


	4. Trust

**A/N:- Trust. Well, that one's gonna take over a _decade._ Trust me on this one.**

 **DISCLAIMER:-** **I owned naught but the plot and OCs yesterday, own naught but the plot and OCs today, and will probably own naught but the plot and OCs for the rest of eternity.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 3**

 **Trust**

By the time the running session was over, Elsa was completely winded. None of Anna's games were even half as tiring as what Espen had made her do. What had started out as an ordinary jog had turned into a run-for-your-life run when he deliberately had her run into a pack of wolves. Elsa would have been dead if not for Espen, who had grabbed her and jumped off a cliff. But without Espen, she never would have gotten into this mess in the first place. And boy, could Espen run. When he had seen the wolves, he had told Elsa to run for her life, and he had shot off into a sprint himself. But by the time he noticed that Elsa was still in danger, he had already reached the next mountain. And even after a pack of wolves, a Grizzly bear whose hibernation they had disturbed, jumping off a cliff _and_ beating up a group of thugs (Long story, don't ask) all in an hour, Espen still looked like he was in top shape. His posture was still perfect, his breathing was normal, and there was an excitement in his eyes that said that this sort of crazy adventuring was what he wanted to do every day for the rest of his life.

Elsa collapsed on her face the moment Espen stopped and then rolled onto her back. "How…. can … you run…. like that?" Elsa said between gasps.

"It's a gift.' was Espen's curt reply "You have it too. _Sigh,_ if only you were less pathetic." Elsa didn't reply. "Now come on, princess, get up. We still have an hour before sunrise, and I need to show you the basics."

Elsa groaned "Why can't we do this tomorrow? I'm dead tired and I wanna sleep."

Espen glared at her and said "You wouldn't be half as tired if you had used your powers as assistance! Why can't you summon a little ice and stab wolves? Or freeze a bear? Or use the strength your powers give you to stop a thief?"

"I couldn't!" Elsa cried "If I had used my powers, I could have hurt them!" Espen gave her a look that said _'You have got to be the stupidest person on earth.'_

Seriously?" said Espen "You would let wolves and a bear kill you and eat you, you would let thieves kidnap you, just because you don't want to hurt them? You definitely need to get your brain checked. If you have one at all, which I seriously doubt. Now come on! First exercise is yoga basics. Then pull-ups, push-ups, crunches, and most importantly, ballet lessons. Also, start learning Japanese, Chinese, and Sanskrit. Find all the secret passages in the castle. Got it?"

Elsa just stared at him, dumbfounded. "You lost me at ballet lessons."

Espen face palmed and sighed. "Languages you need to know are Chinese, Japanese and Sanskrit. Don't ask me why, but they will be very important. Also, I am not going to fly you out of your bedroom window every day, so you need to find another way out. Also, get your hands on some peasant clothes. Peasant _boys'_ clothes. Girls' clothes are impossible to fight in, wherever you go. Except perhaps China, Japan, the northern Viking tribes… anyway, trust me on this one." he said.

"But why ballet?" asked Elsa.

"Have you ever seen professional ballet?" Espen asked. Elsa shook her head. "Ballet requires immense strength and discipline. By combining ballet moves and fighting skills, you will be hard to beat in a fight, even without your powers. Seriously, as a princess, you should have at least been given the basic training." Espen said.

"Well, I'm not exactly the ordinary princess." Elsa murmured, but Espen heard anyway, and sighed.

"You royals have libraries bigger than most public ones. You'll find a book on yoga for sure. And you have six or seven years to learn the languages. Clearly, you have mastered English and Norse. Try to learn old Norse as well. It just might save your life. Oh, boy do you have work to do! That's enough of a break, now it's time for yoga, starting with a little exercise known as _suryanamaskar._ Let's get to work." Espen took a position with his palms pressed against each other in front of his chest, standing straight. He tilted his head to the side, silently indicating Elsa to copy him. And Elsa did.

An hour later, the sun was rising and Elsa was exhausted. After yoga, Espen had put her through several ridiculous exercises. Her knees were shaking, her feet were killing her, and her arms were numb, and it felt as if they were about to fall off.

"Good work!" said Espen "Time to drop you off before anyone notices that you are gone."

Elsa gave him a sad look and said "No one will notice my absence until after noon. The servants will put the food in through a secret opening in the door, and then my parents will come in after noon to see how I'm doing, tell me to conceal my powers, and then leave me alone for another twenty three hours."

Espen's mind was working at full speed. He had wanted to blow up the castle when Elsa had said that her parents told her to conceal her powers, but his father's lessons on keeping a cool head and properly analyzing every situation held him back. _'Always look at the bright side of things.'_ he had said _'There will be times when you will feel that injustice has been done, times when someone is incredibly stupid, times when you are angry, but you must calm your mind. You must see the brighter side of every problem, and start working from that point.'_

"Did you just say that you are practically unsupervised for over twenty hours?" Espen asked, a wicked grin forming on his face. Elsa looked at him in horror.

 _'Oh no. What did I do? Elsa you stupid *****'_ was the first thing that went through her mind. She might have been a princess, but the guards sure knew how to curse, and she had picked up on plenty of them when she was way too young to even know about curses.

"Uhh, did I say that? What I meant was that I am supervised for over twenty hours, and everybody will notice my disappearance immediately" She winced. Even to Elsa, the lie was obvious. She knew that it was obvious. She knew that Espen knew it was a lie, but she hoped that he bought it. He didn't.

"Oh yeah!" Espen yelled. Twenty hours of training per day! Their powers helped them heal faster, so four hours of sleep per day would be sufficient, even for a low level wielder such as Elsa. "When will your parents show up?"

"About two o clock." Elsa said in a defeated voice.

"Excellent" said Espen "The sun is just rising, so it should be six o clock. It's nearly winter solstice, so it should be seven thirty right about now. That leaves us four hours until you have to be in your room. I'll take you clothes shopping, then we'll have a nice peasant breakfast ( _AN- I mean_ _ **peasant,**_ _not pleasant_ ), and a tour of the city!"

"Tour of the city?" Elsa mocked "I've lived here my whole life. By the looks of you, you have barely been here for a few days. You think _you_ are eligible of giving _me_ a tour? Think again." Espen tried to raise one eyebrow, but failed, resulting in both his eyebrows going up while squinting with one eye.

"Yeah, princess, about that, have you _ever_ stepped outside the castle until yesterday?" he retorted. Elsa's face went red and she hid her hands behind her back and looked at the ground, determined to avoid eye contact. "Thought so." said Espen triumphantly. "Now rest. We have a lot of work to do." with that, Espen fell flat on his back in the snow with his arms spread out and looked up at the cloudy sky. "The sky looks nice." he said. Elsa was too tired to argue, and lay down a few feet away from Espen. 'The sky is nice' was the last thing she thought before her eyes closed and she entered the land of sleep.

Elsa's sleep was dreamless, which also meant that it was over before she even realized that she had fallen asleep. The first thing that she saw was blue fire licking at her face. She yelped and sat up so fast that Espen, even with his superior reflexes, did not have the time to maneuver his nose out of the way of her forehead.

"Owww." he mumbled while holding a hand to his nose "You have one hard head, princess. That hurt."

"What were you trying to do?! Burn my face off?" Elsa yelled.

"Oh stop your whining." Espen said, massaging his nose "I wouldn't be able to hurt you without fainting myself. You are far more powerful than you realize. Fire a hundred times more powerful than that won't even leave a mark on you." Espen took in a deep breath and continued to speak "Anyway, it's time to go. But first, we need to disguise your hair, otherwise we'll be recognized in seconds."

Elsa scowled "I'll draw attention? What about you? If you walk around town in those clothes, you'll draw more attention than my papa." Elsa retorted.

"What's wrong with these clothes?" Espen asked, baffled "These are normal clothes."

"Yeah, normal clothes in _summer_ " Elsa said "Normal people wear thick, fur-lined coats in this weather, otherwise they'd be freezing. Not everyone has our immunity, you know."

Espen blushed lightly, realizing that the princess had a point. "Erm, okay, so maybe I overlooked that one point." he said, avoiding looking her directly in the eye "So we'll go shopping first then." Elsa smirked at her victory, however small it might be. Espen suddenly dropped to the ground, and before she realized what was happening, Elsa's legs had been kicked out from under her and she had fallen flat on her back. While she was still trying to comprehend what had just happened, Espen quickly melted the snow on the ground and mixed the mud into Elsa's hair, staining it brown. By the time Elsa realized what had happened, Espen's work was done.

"What did you do!?" Elsa shrieked, running her hands through her ruined hair. Apparently, Espen had used his power because the mud had dried completely, and it wasn't showing any signs of coming off easily.

"Relax" Espen told a frantic Elsa who was still trying to get the mud out of her hair "The mud will wash out in seconds, but we need it as a part of your disguise. You are the only eight year old in the kingdom who has white hair. If you weren't a princess, it wouldn't be a problem. But you are, so we have to deal with it."

"It's not my fault that I'm a princess." Elsa complained.

"Come on, princess." Espen said, looking at the capital city from across the fjord. He held his hand out. "Grab on" he said. Elsa cautiously took his hand, and almost got her arm pulled off. After five second of total confusion, she found herself looking at the capital city. _And the fjord was missing._ She whipped around to find herself on the wrong side of the fjord. _'He pulled me across the fjord without me realizing it.'_ she thought.

"How much power _do_ you have?" Elsa asked, her voice a mixture of awe and fear. Espen noticed the fear in her voice. _'Well, at least there is some appreciation. Otherwise I'd never get anywhere.' he thought._

"No more powerful than you." he said without looking at Elsa and walking ahead.

A sudden rush of emotions overtook Elsa. She hadn't known that she had even half the power that Espen did. The thought terrified her. _I've never used that much power. And that had no effect on him. Oh no. I've been underestimating my powers. This means that if I lose control, I won't just destroy my room, 'I'll destroy the whole city! Oh no oh no oh no….'_ Elsa was beginning to get one of her panic attacks, icy magic seeping out of her feet and into the ground, forming a single snowflake which kept on expanding.

Elsa's panic grew tenfold, and the snowflake began to expand even more rapidly, overtaking Espen who was now ten feet away from her. Her senses were expanding, she could feel where Espen stepped in the snow, where dozens of people in town were stepping in the snow. She could feel the children ice skating in the lake, and she could see every house and every building that was shrouded in snow. Elsa had never been able to sense so many things at once, and it was driving her crazy. The input of information was too much. Any more and she would surely faint.

But then she felt an oddly familiar presence near her. Her powers halted, focusing completely on this foreign entity that had decided to make itself known. It exuded a power which matched hers perfectly. A new string of thoughts entered her mind, breaking through the cloud of panic. _'If losing control would mean destroying the town, then I think that not even destroying my room is an achievement. Come on Elsa, pull it together, you can do this.'_ The ice stopped expanding, and the connection between her and the snow was subdued. Elsa let out a long breath in relief. She looked over to where she had last sensed the power which seemed so similar to hers, only to see Espen, who had now stopped walking. _'He knew'_ Elsa realized _'He knew exactly what was happening to me.' Espen started walking again. 'And he knew that I would be able to overcome it. Maybe I can trust him.'_

* * *

 **A/N:- The younger Elsa that we are seeing now would be less afraid than the older and more powerful Elsa, so the 8- year old version will be able to accept her powers much more quickly, although it will still take me about 50,000 words to get to the point where she can willingly use them in a fight. Read and review please!**


	5. How to Train Your Elsa

**A/N:- Well, the starting is gonna be slow, but wait for it. Once things get moving, they will get _moving._**

 **DISCLAIMER:-** **I owned naught but the plot and OCs yesterday, own naught but the plot and OCs today, and will probably own naught but the plot and OCs for the rest of eternity.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 4**

 **How to Train your Elsa**

Espen and Elsa went through town as inconspicuously as possible. They made their way towards a clothing store without anyone noticing that they were wearing surprisingly little, given the weather. The duo quickly entered the shop and shut the door behind them. But the moment they opened the door, it had caused a little bell to go off, alerting the owner to their presence.

"Hello, dears, what can I do for you two today?" Elsa and Espen turned towards the voice. The speaker was an old woman with graying hair who wore a pair of round spectacles. She had a kind expression on her face. She looked at them for a few seconds before gasping "Oh my! What on earth are you doing, going out in the cold like that? Where are your parents?"

Espen quickly put on an innocent smile, and quickly replied "Don't worry, ma'am. We ran all the way here from home. We were out for barely half a minute. Our parents sent us to get new winter clothes." The woman seemed satisfied with that.

"But little children like you should not be running around in the cold in those clothes, even for moment. Go sit down by the fire and warm up. I'll show you some of the clothes that I have." She forced Elsa and Espen to sit down on a couple of stools near the fireplace, despite Espen complaining of how he was a 'big boy'.

Elsa looked on in curiosity. She had never left the castle before, so everyday social interactions were new to her. Seeing the shop owner chide Espen made her feel as if she was missing something in her life. There was something that she saw which she had never seen before. She realized that until a few hours ago, she was a princess, but now she was a commoner, who wouldn't be spared a second glance. She was living like any ordinary peasant, yet there was something that was there in the life of commoners which she had never found in the palace.

She saw the woman give Espen a playful glare, causing him to cower on his stool. _'Unbelievable. The person who can easily destroy the shop is cowering in fear from the glare of an old woman.'_ she thought.

The woman looked at Elsa and gave her a small smile. "Don't let your brother move from there." she said, before walking off into the depths of the shop.

Elsa looked at Espen. He was looking at the fire with mild interest. He turned to fully face the fire. He brought his palms near each other, leaving about six inches of space in between. He bent his fingers inwards, so that they almost touched each other. He gaze intensified. He slowly began to move his hands apart. Elsa shifted her gaze to the fire. It was changing shape unnaturally, forming a sphere of fire in the middle. On closer inspection, Elsa realized that the fire wasn't forming a sphere, but rather vacating a spherical volume. Espen was making the fire bend around a specific volume, leaving a void free of flames. When Elsa looked at Espen again, his brow was furrowed in concentration.

Suddenly, his ear twitched _'His ears twitch!? How on earth does he do that?'_ Elsa screamed inside her head. An instant later, Espen lost his concentration, and the void collapsed with an almost inaudible poof. Elsa shot him a questioning look, but Espen looked off towards the insides of the store just as the shop owner came in through the door, carrying about half a dozen winter cloaks, dresses, trousers, and vests.

"Here you are, darlings, take your pick." she said as she set the cloaks down on a table.

Espen hopped off his stool and approached the table. Elsa followed him, still in thought _'He could hear her coming, even when focusing on the flames. There is no telling how strong he is, or how strong he can be. I need to be wary around him. He managed to overcome the castle's security, and Arendelle castle actually has competent guards. It takes more than an ordinary child to break into Arendelle castle, unlike the one in Corona. If he managed it as eight year old, he will easily be able to handle all the armies of the world ten times over. I have to…'_ this was when she noticed a hand being waved a few inches away from her face.

"Helloooo? Princeeeeess? Anyone home?" Espen asked while waving his hand.

"Huh? What are you doing?" Elsa asked, leaning back slightly.

"You kind of spaced out for a second there." he said "You okay?"

"I'm fine" Elsa said "Just thinking."

Elsa and Espen sorted through the cloaks, looking for a design that caught their eyes. Espen settled for a dark blue cloak, black trousers, and a blue full-sleeved vest which had the Arendelle crocus sown into it in a light blue thread. Elsa had picked a sky-blue cloak with flower designs, and after deciding that she had way too many dresses already, had picked out a pair of dark purple trousers and a blue-green full-sleeved vest. She looked over at Espen, who was already trying his new clothes on and admiring his reflection in a mirror. The combination of the dark blue and his fiery red hair suited him. Elsa figured that he might be able to attend a royal ball with a little grooming and more expensive clothes.

She looked at her own clothes and realized that they would suit her perfectly, but that was with her hair in its original state. Her now brown hair would not complement a light blue cloak. So she switched it with a dark brown one, also with flower designs. She tried on the cloak and looked in the mirror, and was surprised with what she saw. Elsa saw an eight year old girl with chocolate brown hair with a brown fur cloak to match. She looked surprisingly normal, despite her extremely pale face. She also looked…. comfortable. Not someone who was living in fear. It took Elsa half a minute to realize that the girl in the mirror was herself. She took off the cloak and folded it, and picked up her other clothes as well. She looked around and found Espen who had already changed back into his original clothes and was paying for them. The elderly woman smiled at him and playfully ruffled his hair. She also smiled at Elsa as Espen pulled her out of the store. She gave her a small wave as she was dragged out the door.

Within five minutes, Espen and Elsa reached the inn where Espen was staying. He dragged her all the way to his room. "You can use the bathroom to change." he said as he pushed her in. He shut the door before she could say anything. Elsa sighed and began to undress.

Espen quickly changed his clothes and took out his map and a pen. He began marking off areas which could be used as training areas. Just then, he heard the hoot of an owl. He looked out the window, and sure enough, he saw the owl which he had sent off yesterday returning. He quickly dashed out of his room and went behind the inn where they threw the garbage. As expected, there were several rats scurrying about the trash. With superhuman speed, Espen snatched up a particularly large one and burnt its head off. He dashed back to his room to find the owl perched on the windowsill.

"Good boy." Espen said softly. He gave the rat to the owl and deftly untied the message from its ankle. The owl flew off with its breakfast and Espen straightened out the scroll. It said:-

 _Espen Azul,_

 _Don't you dare go around killing foreign princesses. Doing so would start a war between the magical and mortal worlds. Also, she is only eight, and has most likely never been given the training which you have gone through. Remember that once, you were also afraid of your fire. It is likely that she has not been taught to hold her powers in check. No matter how angry it makes you, you must keep in mind that it is not her fault._

 _As for training her powers, the first thing that you should do is make her_ _ **want**_ _to use her power. You simply have to trick her like the twins trick you. Deceive her. Tell her that you will take away her power if she can defeat you. By the time she is able to do so, she will have realized her connection to it and will want to keep it. Be sure to practice yourself. If you lose too early on, she will revert to her current state and the situation will be even worse since you will have broken her trust. In about seven years, I shall send you instructions which are necessary to your training. Princess Elsa must learn to use her powers before then. You too must become stronger. Currently, you are focusing on strength alone. But you must learn that strength does not mean power. I know that you will not understand this now, but in a few years, you will understand._

 _Above all, do not let the fire in your heart waver. It is what pushes you forward, even when victory is impossible. The fire in your heart is your greatest power._

 _-Love, Anitra Azul (Mom)_

 _P.S. The twins found your storage of explosive fire stones. Half the town needs to be rebuilt. I told you to take the blasted things with you!_

 _P.P.S. I know you blotted out those swear words young man! And you did a poor job of it too! You only blotted out the words, but their imprint was still there on the paper! When I see you again, you are going to get the spanking of a lifetime!_

Espen gulped at the ominous ending of the letter. His mother rarely forgot things, and his father had a perfect memory. (A/N:- Photographic memory, but the term doesn't exist in this time period as the camera has not been invented yet) His dad would let him off the hook, no problem, but his mother would stick to her word. Espen was glad that he wouldn't be seeing her for at least a decade more.

The part about tricking Elsa really caught Espen's attention, and he couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it before. The plan was perfect, and with a little modification, Elsa would never find out! He just had to make the challenge more difficult whenever it suited him, and Elsa would never beat him! He still wasn't sure as to why he had to train Elsa, but his mother had said that it was very important, and that she would tell him in a few years. Espen did not care that he had no reason to train Elsa. He had never fought another wielder before, and this was a golden opportunity for him. His hair was steaming, when Elsa walked out of the bathroom. Espen quickly folded up the letter and slid it inside a drawer.

"Well, what now?" asked Elsa.

"It is time…" Espen said is a grave tone.

Elsa tensed "Time for what?" she squeaked.

"It is time.. " Espen repeated. A goofy expression came over his face "For breakfast!" he finished. Elsa hit her forehead with her palm. "Come on princess, let's go!" Espen said, dragging Elsa out of the room with him.

Fifteen minutes later, Espen and Elsa were sitting at a table in a restaurant. They had agreed on a giant plate of pancakes coated in maple syrup. They had been waiting for a few minutes, and were talking, well, Espen was asking about what being a princess was like, and Elsa was trying to keep her powers at bay while answering his questions.

"So you _never_ have to do chores? Not even taking your dirty dishes to the kitchen?" Espen asked.

"Absolutely nothing. I just have to move a single finger and whatever I want done is done." Elsa replied.

"Man, you royals have it made. I can't remember a single day when I got anything that I wanted."

"Trust me, it gets really boring after a while. The only thing I have to do is sit through those royal etiquette lessons, and that is only for half an hour per day."

"Oh come on! Ordering servants around all day would be so much fun! And in a castle that big, the potential for pranking other people is virtually unlimited! Have you ever pulled a prank at one of those fancy balls?"

"No. I've never been one for pranks."

Espen gasped "You've never pranked anyone before? You are missing such a vital part of youth! I feel sorry for you."

Elsa made to reply, but stopped short when a waiter brought over their pancakes. The plate was stacked high with pancakes and was oozing maple syrup. Without further ado, their conversation long forgotten, the two children dug into the pile. Elsa ate more than she ever had in her life in one sitting. When the last bits of pancake were carefully picked and eaten, and the plate licked clean of the maple syrup, Elsa let out a loud sigh of content. Even though the royal cook could make pancakes much better than the ones she just ate, there was something about the meal that made it feel much better than normal. 'It's probably because I'm eating out in the open instead of in my locked room.' Elsa thought.

"Elsa" Espen said "I have important news."

Elsa sat up straighter in her chair "Go on" she said

"My mother sent me a letter. Apparently, you were right. There is a way."

"A way for what? And don't say something stupid like 'getting breakfast for free.'"

"First off, getting breakfast for free is awesome. Second, I was talking about something which is almost as important as breakfast. There is a way for me to take away your powers."

"….."

Elsa was shocked _'There is a way for me to take away your powers.'_ This was it ! _'There is a way for me to take away your powers.'_ This was the answer to all her problems! _'There is a way for me to take away your powers.'_ Espen's last sentence was replaying itself in her head over and over again. _'There is a way for me to take away your powers.'_ Elsa was so overjoyed that she failed to realize how extremely convenient it was that Espen had found a way to take away her powers a day after he said that it was impossible.

"But…." Espen said, derailing her train of thought "You have to do something fo-"

Espen was abruptly interrupted when Elsa grabbed his shirt. "I'll do anything." she said "Anything you want me to do!"

Espen grinned 'She fell for it' he thought. "Great! For me to be able to erase your power, you have to complete a challenge so that I can perform the ritual on you."

"What's the challenge?" Elsa asked breathlessly.

"Let's see.. You need to defeat me! Simple enough. For now, you will win even if you manage to knock me out of the ring. Do that, and I will remove your power."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Elsa whisper-shouted. "Let's go fight!"

"I'm waiting for the bill. All those pancakes weren't free, you know. And by the way, you owe me half the amount."

A few minutes later, Espen had paid for their food and the two made their way to the banks of the fjord where they would train.

* * *

 **A/N:- And Elsa is finally going to begin her training! Of course, she will get absolutely curb-stomped for the first few months. Espen, watch out. Elsa is going to kill you if she finds out about the letter!**


	6. Fight!

**A/N:- Hey guys and girls! Sorry for the long delay, but this is the first time I've written a fight sequence. As compensation, I offer you this extra-long chapter! Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER:-** **I owned naught but the plot and OCs yesterday, own naught but the plot and OCs today, and will probably own naught but the plot and OCs for the rest of eternity.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 5**

 **Fight!**

After another five - second dash across the fjord, Elsa found herself facing Espen who was standing inside a circle of a ten-foot radius which he had drawn on the ground with a stick.(He had vaporized all the snow.) "Start whenever you feel like it, princess." Espen called out.

"Will you stop calling me that?" Elsa snapped.

"I'll stop calling you that when you actually show some skill." Espen said.

Elsa heard the church bell ring eleven times. Eleven 'o clock. She took in a deep breath and stepped into the ring. She ran at Espen at full speed, but Espen sidestepped out of her way with ease. Elsa followed up with a series of wild punches, but Espen dodged all of them, each fist missing him by mere millimeters. Espen suddenly moved so fast that Elsa lost sight of him. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

Elsa yelped and spun around to find Espen's hand on her shoulder. "Is that the best you can do, princess?" Espen mocked "I'm dis-" but he was interrupted by Elsa swinging her fist horizontally, forcing him to duck. Elsa continued to come at him with random punches, but not one of them made contact with him. He either stepped out of range, or moved out of the way of the attack.

But Elsa's attack was not entirely pointless. She was slowly edging him towards the border of the ring. 'She's smart. She knows that she can't beat me in physical combat, so she is trying to force me out of the ring.' Espen thought. He took one step back, so that his heel was almost touching the boundary. Elsa threw herself at him in a final attempt to push him out of the ring, but fire shot out of Espen's feet and he flew over Elsa, landing perfectly in the middle of the ring.

"No fair!" Elsa shouted "You're using your powers!"

"I never said that you couldn't."

Elsa's eyes widened. "I…. I can't." she whispered. "I could hurt you. I can't…"

Elsa never got to finish her sentence. Espen dashed at her faster than she could follow. He grabbed her arm and swung her around with incredible force into the fjord. Elsa was thrown so fast that her body skipped on the water twice, like a skipping stone, before stopping a hundred feet from the shore. It took Elsa a few seconds to even understand what had happened. She only realized that she was drowning when she tried to breathe and ended up swallowing water. She quickly paddled to the surface and took in a deep breath after coughing up water. She swam to the shore, which was incredibly difficult for her, considering that she had never gone swimming before in her life and that she was wearing heavy winter clothes. It took her a minute, but she made it to the shore, gasping. She collapsed on her back on the shore. "Get up. The fight's not over." she heard Espen say. She sat up and looked at Espen, who was glaring down at her. "You may not want to hurt me, but _I_ want to hurt _you_."

Espen was glaring at Elsa, but internally, her was carefully analyzing her body language. She was at the end of her human strength. She had done more physical activity today than she had in her entire life. If not for the small amount of energy her powers supplied her body unconsciously, she would have fainted a long time ago. Now, that small amount was keeping her brain working, but she would have to actively use her powers if she even wanted to stand up. He was deliberately trying to get an emotional response from her so that she would use her powers. Now, she had no choice. If she wanted to fight, she would have to use her powers, or she would lose. Espen had realized that she hated her powers more than anything in the world. This was her opportunity to get rid of them, so it was only a matter of time before she stopped holding back. Not that it would change the outcome. She had no training whatsoever, whereas he had been practicing since the moment his power had manifested when he was two. No matter what, there was no way that she would defeat him just yet. He looked at Elsa. The mud had washed out of her hair, and it had reverted to its original snowy-white color. He saw her looking into his eyes, and saw something change in hers. It was as if the blue in her irises had suddenly intensified tenfold. _'Yes! She's about to use her powers!'_ He extended his senses in anticipation. Elsa slammed her right palm on the ground, and got her legs underneath her. Her left arm was hanging limply. Espen realized that he must have injured it when he grabbed it to throw Elsa into the fjord. Elsa was standing up, albeit quite shakily. Espen had to use all his willpower to prevent his shock from showing on his face. _'She is actually standing up without the assistance of her powers! That shouldn't be possible for her! I can barely do that myself! How does she have this much willpower? I am sure that her body has almost no strength left, and I am also sure that she is not using her powers. HOW?!'_ Espen was beyond furious. The princess, without any training, had achieved. The. Highest. Level. Of. Power. For a mortal. He saw Elsa stand up straight. "You're right" she said "The fight's not over yet." She dashed at Espen again, but this time, there was something different about it. This was no rookie charge, but more like a tiger charging at a deer.

Elsa was at her limit. She was panting on the ground, just having made it to the shore. Her left arm was sore, no surprise there. She glared at Espen. She was angry. The image of a frozen Anna appeared in the eye of her mind. _'I will beat him. I will show him. Without these powers. I will never use them. Ever.'_ she thought. She slammed her palm on the ground and stood up shakily. She knew that she was out of energy, but she pushed herself anyway. She would not lose to the likes of him. _'He may have a caring side, but deep inside, he's a monster.'_ She spoke, pouring all her willpower into her words "You're right, the fight's not over yet." She saw his glare intensify a hundredfold, fury shining in his eyes. Elsa narrowed her eyes, only one target in her focus. She charged.

Espen knew that something had changed. The way that Elsa charged was completely unlike the first time. Earlier, she had charged in a way that he had expected- like an inexperienced eight-year old. Charging in pointlessly with no technique. But now, she was charging like his parents did in a fight to the death. She was much slower than him, but that did not ease his discomfort. She was doing this while her body had no energy left, without using magic. Espen saw Elsa's right fist come at him from a mile away. He dodged easily, but sensed her leg coming at him already. _'She punched, predicted how I would dodge, and kicked. How is she doing this?!'_ Espen thought. He easily jumped over her kick, only to find her left elbow coming towards his face. ' _What?!'_ Espen thought, dumbfounded _'She managed to outmaneuver me! Granted, I'm not going all out, but she's not using her powers either! I can't dodge this! I have to block. And she's not even looking!'_ Indeed, Elsa had spun around when she had kicked, and was now facing away from Espen. Yet her elbow was about to connect with his face. Espen, with his lightning reflexes, grabbed it. This did not stop Elsa from performing a reverse kick which would have hit him in the groin, had he not bent his left leg, and the kick connected with his shin instead. She was still ten, maybe twenty times too slow for him, but she was still making him block. She wrenched her elbow out of his grip, and aimed a punch right at his face. This time, however, he decided to meet her attacks head on. Before her fist could move an inch further, it was met with his palm, while his other hand formed a fist and punched her quite heavily in the stomach. She was thrown back, but she stood up once more. This time, he charged her. She kicked at his side. He let the kick connect, but remained completely unfazed. He sidestepped to avoid a punch, and ducked to avoid another kick. He deflected the next punch with his forearm. And sent one back at her face. She stumbled, but attacked him once more.

Espen noticed that something was not right. Elsa seemed to be showing no reaction to pain. While he could end the fight in a moment, he wanted to see how far she could go. But he had definitely not expected this. She was clearly outmatched, but with every blow, she was adapting to his moves. She couldn't match him blow for blow, but she was successfully predicting his moves, and minimizing the damage, all the while forcing him to dodge all her attacks. Espen dodged a fist, but failed to notice the second fist coming at him at the same time, and it hit him with full force in the middle of his chest. It barely tickled him, but one of her blows had actually hit him fair and square. Espen froze. He looked down at his chest, where her fist had connected. He was so shocked that he didn't even notice all the other blows that were hitting him. He brought his hand up and tenderly touched the spot. His anger grew to more than ever before. It did not matter that the punch hadn't hurt him. It did not matter that he was consciously not using his powers. It didn't matter that he wasn't going all out. What mattered was that a spoiled brat had actually managed to hit him fair and square. This. Was. Unacceptable. His fiery aura exploded, vaporizing all the snow and water within a hundred feet of him, causing cracks to spread along the ground. It even snapped Elsa out of her trance. Elsa's eyes lost their intensity, and they widened with fear. She quickly backed off, but it wasn't fast enough. Espen was going all out. He roared and leapt forward, the ground exploding beneath his feet. Elsa leapt back in terror, but to no avail. Espen closed the nearly-thirty foot distance is the blink of an eye, and punched Elsa in the nose with his left hand, wreathed in flames, with enough force to destroy a house. Elsa flew back and crashed into a tree, going through the thick trunk completely and crashing into another tree behind it, cracking it.

Espen finally began to calm down. But as soon as he did, he remembered something extremely peculiar. The circle had a twenty foot diameter, but he was about thirty feet away for Elsa when he had gone all out. _'This can only mean one thing.'_ Espen though in horror. He looked at the ground behind him. The point from where he had jumped was about two feet inside the circle. He could easily identify the spot, because he had jumped with such force that his footprints had been imprinted into the ground. But he noticed his current position. He had punched Elsa when she was fifteen feet outside the circle….. Meaning right now, he was standing fifteen feet outside the circle. He, a trained wielder, had been defeated by an untrained princess, who hadn't even been using her powers, fair and square. And that was when she was on the brink of unconsciousness. He whipped his head around, and saw that Elsa was bleeding heavily from her nose, and appeared to have fallen unconscious. He let out a long breath which he hadn't realized that he was holding. He couldn't afford to lose to her, not yet. He walked over to her. While his punch would have destroyed a stone house, Elsa's powers had subconsciously protected her, which is why she was still alive. Espen picked her up and walked to the edge of the fjord. He gently set her down in the sand, and began to wash the blood off her face. Her nose was completely broken. _'Well, the earlier the better, I suppose.'_ Espen thought. The nose was a huge weak point in a fight. However, if the nose had been completely broken before, it would hurt significantly less. Espen shuddered as he remembered how his father had broken his nose in four rapid punches during his training. So quickly, that he didn't even have the time to consciously activate his powers to defend himself. He had cried for hours after that, but it was worth it. Now, there wasn't a single hard part in his nose. It still had its normal shape, but was as flexible as rubber. Looking at Elsa, he could tell that she was in the same condition as he was all those years ago. The fact that she was unconscious must have been the only thing keeping her from bawling like a baby. After washing the blood off, he fixed her nose. Every time he touched it, Elsa's body would twitch involuntarily. It would be badly swollen for a while, but by next week, it would be as flexible as rubber. Something white drifted past Espen's eyes. He looked up and saw that it was snowing. A snowflake landed on the tip of Elsa's nose, and she stirred.

* * *

Elsa was in pain. Everything was black, but she could still feel the pain. She could feel someone causing her even more pain. The pain was unlike anything she had felt before. Although it was probably because the most pain she had ever felt was because she tumbled down a few steps trying to chase after Anna. Suddenly, she felt someone significantly reduce the pain. With the pain out of the way, she could sense other things. The first thing she noticed was a powerful presence next to her, a presence which complemented her own. Suddenly, along with the pain, she felt a burst of energy. The energy was negligible, but it was there. It awakened a similar energy within her. The energy was cool and comforting, so she let it spread. The more it spread, the less pain she felt. She could feel it flowing through her body. Strength returned to her, and she began to open her eyes.

Espen held Elsa's head in his lap. He did not know why he did it, but he did it anyway. Maybe it was because she was strong, and he respected that. Maybe it was because of her determination and willpower, which could match his own. But he had no time to think about why. Moments after Elsa stirred, ice began to form around her. It made its way to the ground, slowly expanding. It even formed on Espen. The residual heat from his outburst melted it immediately, but it continued to form until he was entirely covered by it, save for his face. He was deliberately suppressing his power in his entire body, and channeling it to his face instead to prevent being completely covered in ice. Slowly, Elsa's eyes fluttered open. Like the genius that he was he said "Wow, you're the first person to give me the cold shoulder, literally. Get it? Cold shoulder? 'Cause I'm frozen? That was a good one, wasn't it?"

Elsa woke up to find herself looking up at Espen. _'Wait, if Espen's head it there, and I'm on my back, and my hands are to my sides, that must mean…my head is in his lap, isn't it?'_ Elsa thought. Elsa flushed crimson, which was easily identifiable against her extraordinarily pale complexion. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. "Wow, you're the first person to give me the cold shoulder, literally." Espen said "Get it? Cold shoulder? 'Cause I'm frozen? That was a good one, wasn't it?" Elsa looked at Espen, only to find that his entire body except his face was frozen three inches deep in ice. Elsa shot up as if she'd been struck by lightning. "I'm sorry!" Elsa said "I didn't mean to freeze you! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…" Elsa said rapidly. She began to hyperventilate, entering one of the initial stages of a panic attack.

Espen immediately released his hold on his powers, and the ice melted instantly. Elsa, however, was still hyperventilating. He simple reached forward and lightly tapped her on her nose. While the force he applied might not have even killed an ant, it was extraordinarily effective on Elsa's severely injured nose.

"OWWW!" she screamed. She quickly brought her hands up to cradle her nose. "OOWWWWWW!" she screamed again due to her fingers coming in contact with her nose. She eventually settled for clenching her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms, causing them to bleed, and breathing heavily through her mouth. "WHY… OWWWW!" Elsa yelled again. She was mad. She wanted to yell at Espen, but even yelling made her nose hurt. So she settled for growling.

"Why…did…you….do….that?" she asked.

"You were having a panic attack, Elsa. Had to snap you out of it."

"Thanks." Elsa said in a low tone. Then her eyes widened in realization "Wait a minute! You called me by my name. You actually said my name."

"What are you talking about, princess?" Espen asked aggressively, fully aware of his slip-up. "I told you that I would call you by your name when you show some skill. Getting your butt kicked is not a skill."

"…"

"…"

"Still…I'm really sorry for freezing you."

"When are you going to get it through your thick skull, princess? You don't possess the ability to hurt me. Don't you get it? Or are you so confident in your power to think that you are more powerful than me? Either you are overconfident, or you are unbelievably stupid. Didn't you see what I did to that bear? That was barely half of what I can do. I am far more powerful than you are, princess. You can't hope to hurt me within the next five years."

"You've never faced ice powers before."

"While that may be true, my mother sent an avalanche at me, and I survived that without moving an inch. And I seriously doubt that you can create an avalanche's worth of ice and snow for the next three years."

"Your mother has powers like mine!?"

"No."

"Then how did she…?"

"She sent the avalanche at me by yodeling at the top of a snow capped peak. Admittedly it was terrifying at the start."

"A frozen heart is nothing compared to an avalanche." Elsa said, and hung her head in shame, remembering what had nearly happened to Anna.

Espen frowned "It would take a true elemental to hurt me. And even true low level elementals are more powerful than gods."

Elsa went white "More powerful than…"

"Gods are just elementals with wielder level strength. Even we could surpass them in terms of pure power in twenty years, given enough training. Yes, even you, though I seriously doubt it."

"Surpass gods….." Elsa whispered in horror "You mean…."

I'll give you a tutorial later on. Don't worry, by gods, I don't mean the creator of the world. I mean all the big shots like Thor, Zeus, Ram, and so on. You might even be able to overpower Skadi in her own element. Relax, you are nowhere close to that kind of power. It will take decades of serious training. And besides…" A sly smile formed on Espen's face "You are going to defeat me so that I can remove your powers, riiiiiiight?"

"You're right. Let's do this." Elsa said while struggling to her feet.

"Whoa there, princess. Cool it. First order of business is letting your nose heal. Your powers will speed it up, but it will still take a week for it to heal completely. So, unfortunately, no more training for the rest of the week."

Elsa sighed "You are horrible at ice puns. Cool it? Really?"

"That's a n-ice ice pun!" Espen protested "You just have no sense of humor."

Elsa groaned at his horrible pun. In the distance, she heard the church bell ring loudly. It rang twelve times. Twelve 'o clock. The fight had lasted for little less than an hour.

"Well, time to take you back, princess." Espen said while standing up. Elsa stood up with him, but before she could react, he picked her up, bridal style, and ran across the fjord. Elsa didn't complain, and only focused on enjoying the wind blowing through her hair, _her clean, pure white hair_. The excess heat from Espen's power dried her clothes by the time they reached the wall. Without hesitation, Espen shot flames from his feet and he leapt to the top of the wall, and once again jumped towards Elsa's window. Seeing as there were no guards, he propelled himself upwards with his fire, making it to Elsa's window and grabbing the windowsill with his fingertips. He pulled himself and Elsa up with his left hand, while holding onto Elsa with his right. He entered her room with ease and gently set Elsa down on her feet.

"Goodbye, princess. I'll see you in a week." Espen said.

"I can't train next week." Elsa whined "Next week is my birthday."

"Born on the winter solstice, huh. Well, then my gift to you will be training to control your powers and another opportunity to defeat me. I'll even give you a handicap- I'll keep my hands in my pockets the whole time. Either way, rest your nose, princess. If your parents ask, say you broke it by falling out of your bed or something."

"I'm no amateur at lying, you know. I can make up quite a few decent excuses."

"Really? Never would have guessed. Either way, I've got to go. It was _ice_ to meet you!"

Elsa groaned "You're horrible."

"Hey, what's with the _icy_ demeanor?" Espen asked, a huge grin forming on his face.

"Out."

"Chill out, pri.."

"OUT!" Elsa yelled, ignoring the pain in her nose.

Espen laughed and jumped out the window, but not before saying "Don't be so cold!", leaving behind a fuming Elsa.

Espen swam through the fjord and to the other side. The damage to the ground was already covered by the snow, but there was an Elsa-shaped hole in a tree, and an Elsa-shaped indentation in the one behind it. _'I would burn the trees down, but I have a feeling that these will be useful later.' h_ e thought. The tree which Elsa had gone through completely was big enough to survive, even with the gaping hole in it. It would heal, but the hole would be there forever. He looked around to survey his surroundings, and after finding no traces of magic, he started walking back to the inn where he was staying for a long nap. He felt that he would need it.

* * *

Elsa looked at Espen as he jumped out the window, shaking with fury. She had never been so annoyed in her life. _'Who does he think he is? And he is a horrible jokester as well. I swear, if I hear him make another one of his horrible jokes, I'll…..'_ her thoughts turned towards all the horrible punishments she would like to inflict upon him. She changed her clothes, put on one of her nightdresses and a new pair of gloves (her old ones had been severely damaged in her escape from the wolves) and sat down on her bed, only to realize how utterly _exhausted_ she was. Her entire body was sore, and now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she was feeling pains in every part of her body. Her arms would barely move, her legs were shaky, her nose hurt so much that she had to breathe with her mouth, and her entire back hurt as if she had smashed into a tree (which she had).

The pain in her nose was steadily increasing, and Elsa moaned in pain. She lay down on her bed and let sleep take over. She fell asleep before the pain in her nose could become too much. She entered a blissful and dreamless sleep, resting her bruised and battered body. She didn't notice the food being slipped into her room, nor did she notice her parents knocking at her door.

* * *

King Agnarr and queen Iduna were making their way towards Elsa's room. They visited her once every day, and both of them hoped that Elsa would be able to suppress her powers one day. Every day at the same time, they checked on Elsa's progress. However, Elsa's powers only seemed to become even more violent. Some days, she would be able to place her hands in water for five minutes without gloves without freezing it, but on other days her powers would explode from her, even with the thickest of gloves on. The stone floor in her room was severely cracked from repeated exposure to ice, and had to be secretly replaced every week. They even had to replace her wooden door with one made of solid granite, but otherwise completely identical. Like the troll chief had said, her powers only grew. Whenever she had panic attacks, which was too often to be good for anyone, ice would spread from her feet and cover the entire room. And the sight of her own ice would only worsen the panic attack, and only a solid slap would snap her out of it. But even the king and queen wore gloves after what had happened after the queen had gotten Elsa out of her first panic attack. She had nearly lost her hand to frostbite after it came in contact with Elsa's cheek, which was so cold that it had caused her hand severe damage even after only a split second's worth of contact. The queen had been unable to properly sign any agreements for a month after that. Not to mention that she had lost several hours of sleep due to the pain.

The king knocked gently on Elsa's door. When he got no response, he knocked harder. After getting no response still, he frowned.

"Elsa, it's mama and papa. May we come in?" he asked softly. No answer.

"Open the door." Iduna said, giving him a key.

Agnarr put the key in the lock, twisted it, and opened the door. It was difficult to open, considering how heavy it was. They both stepped into the room and saw Elsa's breakfast and lunch in their boxes on the ground, which had been pushed aside by the door. Her breakfast and lunch were completely untouched. They turned to find Elsa sleeping soundly in her bed. But there was something wrong in the way she looked. "Her nose…." Iduna gasped. Agnarr noticed it too. Her nose was entirely blue and black, and was severely swollen. Her hair was in disarray, free of its normal braid, and was spread around her head like a halo. She probably would have appeared to be incredibly beautiful, had it not been for her nose and the expression of utter exhaustion on her face.

"Wake up, Elsa, wake up." Iduna said in a worried tone. Nothing. She shook Elsa's shoulder gently. This got a reaction as Elsa mumbled incoherently.

"Elsa, wake up." Agnarr pleaded, shaking her other shoulder.

Now, Iduna had gone to her daughter's side immediately, and was thus on her right side. Agnarr, however, had gone around to the other side of the bed, which meant that he was on Elsa's left side. So when he shook Elsa's _left_ shoulder, the same shoulder which Espen had half-dislocated only a few hours earlier, he got an instant reaction.

"AAARR….. Uhhh…. Good morning mama, good morning papa." Elsa said. She had felt immense pain, and had woken up yelling and had sat bolt upright, but had immediately stopped the moment she saw her parents. "You're early today. What's wrong?" she asked, faking nervousness.

"Nothing's wrong, sweetheart." Agnarr said soothingly.

"We're not early, Elsa. You just slept in late." Iduna said.

"Oh." Elsa said, forcing herself to blush. "Well…."

"Never mind that, dear, but what happened to your nose?!" Iduna asked, nearly screaming.

"I may or may not have rolled off the bed and fallen on my face." Elsa said, fidgeting with her fingers. It was very un-princess like to toss and turn in bed, and very embarrassing to fall off. "My nose hurts." she added belatedly.

"Iduna, hurry, get a few bandages. It's probably broken." Agnarr said. Iduna immediately dashed off.

Agnarr was shocked by his daughter's strength. From what he had heard, having your nose broken was not a pleasant experience. He noticed tears forming in Elsa's eyes and slowly rolling down her cheeks, but she didn't let out a single cry. Agnarr had known grown men to writhe and scream in pain on having their noses broken, But his eight year old daughter was sitting in front of him, with her back straight, sitting like a princess should, without making a single noise.

"What's wrong, papa? You've been staring at me funny for a while now." Elsa asked, her voice betraying how much pain she was in.

"It's nothing, sweetheart" he said, shaking his head "You're really strong, you know." He took Elsa's gloved hand in his own.

After being told all day that she was pathetic, it was nice to hear someone say that she was strong. "Thanks, papa. I really needed to hear that." Elsa said, smiling softly, her cheeks glistening with tears.

They both saw Iduna enter with the medical box. She quickly took out a few bandages and some cream. As a princess, she had been taught how to nurse injuries.

"Now, Elsa, sweetie, I need you to be brave. This will hurt." she said. Elsa clenched her fists, ground her teeth, and nodded.

Iduna quickly applied the healing cream to Elsa's nose and wrapped the bandage around her nose and around her head, while Agnarr held Elsa's hands. Elsa grimaced, and a fresh wave of tears flowed down her face, but she didn't make a sound. One very long and agonizing minute later, the bandaging was done.

"How does it feel, Elsa?" Iduna asked

"It hurts, but less than before."

Iduna nodded and put the cream and extra bandages back in the box. Both parents sat at Elsa's side as she moved to get comfortable. She was very much in pain, and had to continuously focus to fight back tears. She clenched her fists so tight that her fingernails pierced her gloves. As soon as her fingernails cut her palms, ice began to coat her hands under her gloves. The cool ice also greatly soothed the pain, so she let it spread. Ice crept across her skin underneath her clothes and covered her entire body below her neck, so that her parents wouldn't notice. She tried to discreetly cover her nose in ice as well, but Agnarr saw the bandages frosting over.

"Elsa, what are you doing?" he asked aggressively.

"Nothing." Elsa mumbled.

Iduna had also noticed the ice. "We've talked about this, Elsa. You must not use your powers, no matter what." she said

"It lessened the pain, so I thought it would be okay." Elsa said, not looking either parent in the eye.

"Elsa, using them will only make them stronger. We don't want another incident, do we?" Agnarr asked.

"No." Elsa hung her head in shame.

Both parents got up from the bed and made to leave the room. "Remember, Elsa" her father said "Conceal it, don't feel it. Don't let it show." Ten seconds later, the heavy door was shut and locked, and Elsa was left in silence.

Elsa was feeling depressed, like she usually did after her parents visited her. But today it felt worse. She had been severely injured, and her parents had only focused on the fact that she had used her powers to numb the pain and had gotten angry over it. She tore her gaze away from the door, and noticed that her mother had forgotten the medical kit on her bed. She quickly hid it under her pillow, making a mental note to find a better hiding spot for it later. This had been the most unusual day in her life. She looked out the window, where in one week, she hoped someone would show up who wouldn't make her depressed.

* * *

 **A/N:- And one of Elsa's mysteries is revealed! We all know about Elsa's determination to not use her powers, but Espen does not. He will find out though. Maybe? Possibly? And this is just the beginning! I really appreciate all the nice reviews that I have recieved. R &R**

 **-Phoenix.**

 **Next time: Breaking into a princess' room at midnight- Oldest trick in the book.**


	7. Happy Birthday, Elsa-Part 1

**Sorry for going missing for so long! School is killing me. On the inside. Longer chapter as copmensation** *Gets pelted with rotten fruit* **Okay! I know it's a lame apology, but something's better than nothing, right?** *Gets hit by more rotten friut and a few shoes for good measure* **Agh! I get it!** *Splat* **And without further ado, Elsa's birthday!**

 **DISCLAIMER:-** **I owned naught but the plot and OCs yesterday, own naught but the plot and OCs today, and will probably own naught but the plot and OCs for the rest of eternity.**

* * *

 **HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELSA.**

 **CHAPTER 6**

One week. It had been one week since her battle with Espen. It had been one week since he had shattered her nose. Elsa sat on her bed with a delicate coating of frost over her nose. Her nose felt much better, but sometimes there would be sharp bursts of pain which would make Elsa see stars. Her thoughts drifted away from her nose, and an image of Espen popped up into her mind. She shuddered. After a good night's sleep, she had realized exactly what had happened. And it was unlikely that she would ever forget. In the eye of her mind, she could see him with his fist drawn back, his arm wreathed in flames, and those eyes which seemed to burn with the flames of hell. For the first time in her life, Elsa was truly afraid for her life. Whenever she thought of Espen, she would see his fiery eyes which seemed to burn away at her soul. He was what Elsa thought a true monster looked like- merciless, and with a view to kill. She almost felt that his heart would be better off frozen. Key word being almost. As much as she hated him, she couldn't find it in herself to hate someone who had fed her pancakes. Elsa groaned and shook her head.

 _'Why is this so confusing?'_ Elsa thought. On one hand, she wanted to run as far away from that monster as she could. On the other hand, he had the capability to remove her curse.

Elsa groaned again and lay down on her bed again. It was already six in the morning of her birthday. Espen had said that he would give her another shot at beating him today, but she could see no sign of him. If he didn't show up today, she was going to be very angry. She had already dressed up in the clothes which he had bought last week. She had made all the mental preparations to use her powers against him. She figured that even if she put his life at risk, it would protect countless more from her curse. Even if she failed to control her powers and accidentally killed him, she could take consolation in the argument that monsters like him should not walk the earth. Out of sheer boredom, she got up and walked to the window. She gazed across the fjord, and saw a line of steam rising from it. Elsa gritted her teeth and clenched her gloved fists. _Espen was on his way._

* * *

It had been a busy week for Espen. First, he had to seek a more permanent residence than a room at an inn. If he stayed in a single inn for too long, rumors would spread. He could just jump from inn to inn, but there was sure to be some connection between the owners of various inns, and if anyone made a connection, they would get suspicious. Of course, Espen's parents had told him to do so. (Espen's idea was to burn anyone who asked too many questions.) He had failed to find a place to stay, but he had met Mary Hagen, the daughter of a hairdresser. After that, he had to find a nice enough training spot. When Elsa began to actively use her powers, fighting by the banks of the fjord would be too noticeable. So he had bought dozens of maps, and scouted every spot within two hundred miles of Arendelle. This was not a fruitless expedition. He had explored places like the peak of four winds, the mysterious tunnel system rumored to be vampire nests. If so, he hadn't found any. There were other noticeable places, like the mile high cliffs overlooking the entrance to the fjord, and more importantly, the extremely deep waters at the base of said cliffs, allowing him to be able to dive off the cliff into the water. But perhaps the most important part was that he found the old lava fields. They had cooled down decades ago, but Espen could reactivate them with enough power. What made this find so important was that with the power of the earth combined with his own, he would have enough power to defeat a low level Elemental. So if by some ghastly miracle Elsa became more powerful than him, he would be able to handle her. It had taken him days of searching to find potential training spots, and given the geography of Arendelle, that was quite difficult. It's not like there was a lack of isolated spots. Quite the contrary, there were several of them. The problem was that most of them were in the mountains. And in the mountains, if they used too much power, they could set off an avalanche. In the end, he had selected a few isolated plateaus and a beach. Any other country, and a beach would never be described as 'isolated', but since the capital city of Arendelle was practically a beach itself, hardly anyone visited it at all. He also had written and incredibly detailed report of his fight with Elsa. There was something about Elsa that didn't sit right with him. His mother sent a response containing two possible answers, one of which shocked him so much that he nearly burnt down the inn. Discovering the lava fields was probably the best thing that could have happened to him, if his mother was actually right about the second option. A week and nine training spots later, he was ready. It was time to begin the first training session.

Espen dashed across the fjord, leaving steam in his wake. Without slowing, he ran up the outer wall and jumped, using his momentum to reach Elsa's window. His aim was perfect, and Elsa had to duck to avoid a collision. With a few small bursts of flames, he slowed himself down and landed on the floor, skidding until his feet touched the door.

"You idiot! Did you even check if my parents were in the room? Do you have any idea of how much trouble you could have gotten me into?!" Elsa whisper-yelled.

"Yes. No. Happy birthday, princess."

"Wait, what?"

Espen sighed "Yes, I checked your room for nosy parents. No, I have no idea how much trouble you could have gotten into. And you told me that today is your birthday, so happy birthday, princess. I believe you turn three today."

"It's my ninth birthday, thank-you very much." Elsa responded indignantly.

"Huh. But you act like you're a three year old spoiled brat. Never would have guessed that you were a few months older than me."

"Why you-" Elsa began, but Espen put his hand over her mouth, cutting her off.

"The arguments can wait until later. I do believe that we have training to get to."

Before Elsa even had a chance to protest, Espen had picked her up and had jumped from the window and into the waters of the fjord. Again. Just before they hit the water, Espen let go of Elsa and performed a perfect dive into the water. Elsa, on the other hand, was unprepared for being dragged out through her window, let alone Espen letting go of her. Elsa landed in the water, back first.

 _'What on earth is going on?!'_ Was the first coherent thought that Elsa formed. Then she breathed in a lungful of water. _'This is happening too many times!'_ Elsa's thoughts clouded over with rage. She had already been summoning her anger all week, and this had been the breaking point. She felt the obvious anger at Espen for dropping her, but even more at herself, even though she didn't realize it. _'I am not going to die by drowning! It is a death unfit for a princess!'_ Energy surged through Elsa's body, and she kicked for the surface. It felt like an eternity, but she finally made it, only to see that Espen had already reached the shore. She coughed up water, and began swimming towards him.

"What is -'cough'- **wrong** with you?!" Elsa yelled, coughing up the rest of the water on the dry (thanks to Espen) sand.

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"You dropped me! I could have drowned!"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize that I was hired as a princess-carrier. You want to get rid of your powers, then you have to toughen up and defeat me. The only reason why I am even bothering to train you is because my mother told me to, and also because you are the only person I know whom I can go all-out against in a fight."

"That's it?" Elsa asked, dumbfounded.

"What do you mean, 'that's it?'"

"The only reason you are doing all this is because you can go all-out against me?"

"Yes. Everyone else tends to die at one-tenth of my power."

"How can you be so selfish?!"

"Fighting is fun, so I do it. What's selfish in that?"

"You fight other people, you hurt other people, just for fun?!"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Why not? _Why not?!_ Because it's wrong! You can't just go around hurting people just because you feel like it!"

"I'm pretty sure I can." Espen said nonchalantly "I mean, I've gotten away with it dozens of times before. No one stopped me."

"No one _can_ stop you! Ordinary people wouldn't stand a chance against you!"

"But you are not ordinary, are you? If you want me to stop, then you are going to have to do it yourself."

Elsa was furious. "You don't deserve this power!" she yelled. The next thing she knew, she was pinned to a tree, with Espen's right hand at her neck, his eyes ablaze with fury.

"No, princess, **you** don't deserve this power." he said, every syllable resonating through her body. Elsa clawed at his hand in vain. He scowled and let Elsa fall to the ground. "You had better give me a good fight, princess, or I am going to be very angry."

Elsa coughed and said something indiscernible.

"What was that, princess? I am so far above your league of power that I couldn't quite hear you."

Elsa spoke louder. Espen's lips curved into a smirk, and he began walking into the forest, Elsa's last words running through his head.

 _"If it's a fight you want, then a fight you shall get."_

* * *

Espen and Elsa had been running for hours. Espen was taking her to the nearest plateau which he had scouted for training. The journey was fairly easy for Espen. But for Elsa, who was completely inexperienced in the art of jumping fifty feet straight up in the air, it was a whole new ball game. Several times, Espen had grabbed her hand and jumped, dragging her along. When they finally reached the spot which Espen had picked out, Elsa was tired and sore all over. She collapsed on the ground, lying flat on her back, taking in heaving gulps of air. Espen, on the other hand, was unfazed. For him, a ten-mile run wasn't even a warm-up. He climbed onto a nearby boulder and pointed his finger at the ground. He squinted, and a concentrated, prolonged flame emerged from his finger. He quickly drew a circle in the ground, burning the grass, but this time, it was at least twice as big as the last one.

"All right, princess. Time for our fight." Espen said enthusiastically while removing his shoes and socks. "You know the stakes and the rules. You force me out of the circle, you win and I take away your powers. You surrender or are unable to continue, you have to go through my training. No holds barred. Oh, and I almost forgot, I told you last time that since it's your birthday, I'll be giving you an advantage- no hands!" He jumped off the boulder and landed in the centre of the circle and put his hands in his pockets.

Elsa groaned and sat up.

"All right, but be prepared. I'm not going to go easy on you."

"Now that's more like it! Come at me, princess!"

Elsa stepped into the ring. She ran at Espen and threw her right fist forward, but Espen moved to his left and dodged. Elsa kicked at him with her right leg, but he spun and dodged, ending up in the exact same spot where he began. Elsa quickly brought her left fist into his stomach. Espen didn't even bother to dodge. He simply let her attack connect, remaining completely unaffected. Elsa hit him several times, but he didn't even move a muscle, completely ignoring her.

"Are you done warming up, princess?" he asked in a bored tone.

Elsa was flabbergasted. She had hit him so many times with all her physical strength, and had barely even noticed. No matter how prepared she was, she was still hesitant to use her powers.

"I didn't want to do this" Elsa said "But you leave me no choice."

Espen raised his eyebrows, and Elsa jumped back. She pulled off her gloves and raised her hands in front of her.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, and shot a single icicle at Espen.

Espen's eyes widened. _'So the princess finally uses her powers. But either someone has taught her that she is too powerful, or she is seriously underestimating me.'_ he thought. He casually took a step to the right, sending power flowing through his body. To him, it felt as if time was slowing down. The icicle, which was already travelling as slow as a ball thrown by a five-year old, slowed down even further. He bent his left elbow, and allowed the icicle to pass halfway through the gap. He straightened his arm, trapping the icicle between his torso and elbow.

He gave a fake yawn and said "Okay, are you done warming up now? Hurry up already, I wanna use my powers actively."

 **"** You… How did you do that?" Elsa stammered, completely shocked that he had done something so casually.

"You are really beginning to irritate me, princess." Espen said. He formed a ball of fire in front of his face and shot it at Elsa. Elsa yelped and ducked on instinct, the fireball sailing overhead and sputtering out before it hit a tree. He channeled a bit of power into his left arm, and the icicle turned to water. He formed a dozen more fireballs and shot them at Elsa.

Elsa dropped to the ground and lay flat on her back, all the fireballs passing above her. But then they turned in midair and came back towards her. She had to roll as the fireballs impacted the spot she had occupied seconds ago in rapid succession. The explosions sent dirt and rocks flying at her anyway, and the grass steamed and withered. Elsa pushed herself up and faced Espen once again, who was still standing in the exact same spot where he was at the beginning of the fight. He just looked so…. _detached_ from the fight. Like she was not even worth the attention of a fly. It was as if he truly _knew_ that his power was on an entirely different level from hers. But no matter what, Elsa was still hesitant about using her powers. Every time she saw snow or ice, even if she didn't create it, she had flashbacks of her powers hitting Anna in the head. Elsa reluctantly summoned a few snowballs which floated around her, and then shot towards Espen.

Espen stared at Elsa in disbelief. _'Is she seriously attacking me with snowballs? I am beginning to doubt that she has a brain.'_ The snowballs neared Espen, and he let them hit him, without using any power at all. Meaning, if those had been snowballs made by any of the older kids he knew from back home, they could have actually hurt him a bit. But for some reason which her could not begin to fathom, the snowballs disintegrated on contact. Either he had subconsciously used his powers, or Elsa had specifically designed those snowballs to be harmless.

"What was that, princess!? My little brother and sister could make and throw snowballs harder than that! When they were five!" Espen shouted, getting angry. If there was one thing he disliked, it was being underestimated. "Do you want me to get rid of your powers or not? I might just get bored and go find another person who actually wants to become stronger."

"NO! Please, don't leave." Elsa cried out in desperation "Why can you not remove my curse without me having to use it?" she said, tears forming in her eyes.

Espen actually had no answer, since no answer existed in the first place. So he just left his expression blank, and summoned about a fifth of his power. The grass within two feet of him began steaming and caught fire. A dozen fireballs appeared around him, each the size of an apple. He formed the thought, and they launched themselves at Elsa, new ones forming in their place as soon as they were launched.

Elsa was hit with a nonstop barrage of fireballs. She ran to the edge of the circle, hoping to hide in the forest, but Espen had other ideas. A whip made of flames overtook Elsa and twisted in the air in front of Elsa, like a snake, cutting off Elsa's escape.

"You can't run from me, princess." Espen said with a smug look on his face. He created an entire wall of brilliant red fire and sent it at Elsa.

Elsa was panicking. She was clearly outmatched without her powers. Just as she was debating whether or not to use her powers, she saw the wall of fire coming at her. She forgot that she was immune to fire, and she made her decision. She threw forth her hands, and massive shards of ice erupted from her. The fire barely affected the wall of ice. The ice wall spread rapidly, snuffing out all the fires which Espen had set. Five seconds later, the plateau looked as if someone had chosen to drop an iceberg on top of Espen.

Elsa looked up and saw what she had done.

"Oh no." she said "ohnoohnoohno. Pleasebeokaypleasebeokay….."

The ice exploded in a burst of flames. In the middle, Espen stood, surrounded by a fiery aura, radiating power. The heat washed over Elsa and her jaw dropped. Espen looked around him, assessing the damage. He looked down, and much to his surprise, he noticed that he had actually been pushed back by a full foot. He turned his attention back to Elsa, who was still staring at him, slack-jawed. A grin appeared on his face, the biggest one in his entire life.

"All right! Let's do this, princess! You pushed me back a full foot! Let's see if you can double that this time!"

Elsa composed herself on the outside, but the inside was a whole different story. She had just unleashed enough ice to destroy the castle, and he didn't even have a single scratch on him! _'Well, no pint in holding back now.'_ Elsa thought.

Espen blasted forwards, his feet trailing fire. He bought down a leg at Elsa's face, but Elsa lifted and crossed her forearms to block, a bluish aura surrounding her. There was an explosion, and Espen was pushed back. When the steam cleared, he saw that Elsa was standing in a crater, the cloth on her forearms smoking slightly.

Elsa dropped her arms to her side, and stomped on the ground, covering it all in ice. She bent forward and aimed her hands behind her and shot a continuous blast of ice magic. She accelerated towards Espen. He jumped over her and landed solidly, shattering the ice. All the resultant shards froze in midair, and all of them shot at Espen at once. He focused all of his power into his body, and with impossible speeds, dodged every single one of the ice fragments.

Elsa growled. She raised her arms to her sides, and the wind began to pick up. It surrounded Elsa like an invisible cocoon. Espen was having too much fun to notice. But he did notice that their positions had changed. Now, he was the one at the ring's edge, and Elsa was the one in the middle.

"Keep going, princess! You just might be able to make me use a tenth of my power!"

Elsa gritted her teeth, and frost spread from her feet, and her eyes began to glow slightly. Elsa was not sure, but she felt as if she was filled with an unstoppable amount of power. There was something in the air which she could draw power from, and it was continuously getting stronger. _"I can't hurt him. If he is speaking the truth, it means that he is just toying with me. I cannot beat him in terms of skill. I cannot beat him in terms of speed. The only two advantages I have are that he is on the edge of the ring, and dangerously so. Only three feet. The other is that he clearly does not expect me to have much power. So, the only way to beat him is to release all my power at once. If I catch him off guard, I should be able to beat him. Probably."_ Elsa thought. Elsa pushed back any thoughts of holding back into the back of her mind, and threw her hands forward with a yell.

Espen, was for the first time in his life, enjoying a fight. He had never been able to use so much power in a fight before. To be fair, he had never fought trained assassins or other wielders before. He looked at Elsa, her clothes fluttering in the wind. It also tugged at her extremely tight bun. In a matter of moments, it came undone, leaving her white hair whipping around in the wind. He could see the light in her eyes. _"She is really going all-out , isn't she? And apparently, the whole pathetic drama earlier was just an act. She was just buying time and storing up magical energy. I'm surprised she hasn't exploded yet. And she's making more-wait, hold up- that's not right. That's not possible! How is she creating so much power?! I thought she was untrained! This is not normal!"_ Espen screamed in his mind. He focused all of his power into his body, and his clothes began smoking. _"More! I need more!"_ Espen's body began to shine, each of his muscles straining to containing his power.

There was an instant of silence, and then the two powerhouses attacked with matching yells.

"HHRRRAAAAAAA!"

A hurricane of wind and snow shot from Elsa's body, towards Espen, the ground behind her cracking from the shockwaves of just launching her attack. Espen gathered all his power in his lungs, nearly burning himself, and brilliant blue flames shot from his mouth, colliding with Elsa's attack five feet in front of his face. Ice met fire, resulting in an explosion which covered everything within a hundred meters with an impenetrable steam cloud. In the middle of all the devastation, stood Espen, panting, his feet a mere centimeter away from the edge of the ring.

Espen took in deep, gasping breaths, trying to soothe his burned lungs. He removed his hands from his pockets and checked the surrounding area for any sign of movement. He stumbled forward, towards where he could sense the unconscious form of Elsa.

* * *

Elsa awoke to a cool breeze hitting her face. She could feel an arm beneath her knees, and another supporting her back, as well as Espen's abnormally high body temperature….. _"Wait, what was that last sentence?!"_ Elsa's mind screamed. Her eyes snapped open and she twisted her neck to the left, only to be met with Espen's face. Elsa and Espen looked at each other for a moment. Espen blinked.

"WHAAAA!" Elsa screamed in surprise, causing Espen to drop her. Unfortunately, they were travelling twenty feet above a forest. With Espen's concentration gone, his body off-balance, it was only natural for him to collide with a tree.

Espen's left shoulder hit the tree, _hard_. Luckily for him, his magic prevented him from taking too much damage. Unluckily, he had spent a significant portion of his power to keep his own power in check. This resulted in his shoulder getting hurt enough so that it would leave a bruise. Espen fell down and slumped against the tree. With a groan, he stood up and extended his senses, looking for Elsa. He found her to be thirty meters from her and… five meters off the ground? He walked for a bit and then looked up, only to see Elsa bent over a sturdy branch, her body limp. He saw her twist her head, and they made eye contact.

"You… dropped….me." Elsa wheezed.

Espen only laughed and jumped straight up and landed on the branch. He grabbed Elsa's waist and picked her up, and they were off again. Minutes later, they reached the shore.

* * *

"I forgot to ask, but what happened?" Elsa asked.

"You fainted."

"I know that." Elsa said in a slightly annoyed voice. "I was asking how."

"Well, I suppose you used too much magical energy for your body to handle."

"Did I win?"

"In your dreams. But you did force me to go all out. Well, as much as I could afford to anyway." Espen's cheeks reddened slightly "I was standing on my tiptoes, only a millimeter from the line. Any more and you would have successfully pushed me out."

"Rats." Elsa mumbled.

"Feel honored, princess. With little to no training, you were able to match me in terms of raw power."

"You weren't using your hands."

"While that is true, I had to burn my own lungs to stop that attack of yours."

"Wait- I thought you couldn't be burned!"

"Under normal circumstances, I can't. But if the fire is hot enough, it will burn me. Same goes for you. You can survive the cold upto a certain extent, but even you will freeze to death if the temperature drops below a certain point."

"Sooo… You can be killed by fire."

"Yes. But the fire will have to be as hot as a volcano. And that's just for now. I will become much stronger as time passes."

"Even stronger than you are now?" Elsa's voice quivered.

"Yep."

"Then how am I ever supposed to beat you?!" Elsa yelled in despair.

"Do I have to remind you that I am not the only one who is going to get stronger? Right now, we are barely at a thousandth of our full potential. And you nearly beat me today. Your little act completely threw me off, and I failed to notice you generating energy and storing it until you attacked."

Elsa was confused "What act?"

"No need to play dumb, princess. You pretended that you didn't want to use your powers, all the while storing up the power for that final attack, right?"

"NO! I really didn't want to! I have no idea what you are talking about!"

"If you have no idea what I am talking about, then how did you generate that much power out of nowhere? I know that you didn't generate all of that in an instant."

"I don't know! It's just..sort of always there."

"Don't lie! I can sense that you are generating magical energy even now!" Espen shouted.

"What are you talking about?! I'm not using my magic" Elsa said in a panicky voice. Then she looked at her hands and the ground where she was sitting, just to be sure.

Espen's anger faded away in an instant as the implication of those words struck him "You don't know the difference between magical energy and magic, do you?"

"There's a difference?" Elsa asked, confirming Espen's suspicions.

Espen took in a deep breath, and did his best to remember his parents' words "Magical energy is the primary energy that is the cause of magic. Anyone can generate it if they know what they're doing, but only few can use it. Look at us: we both generate the same kind of energy, but the way in which we use it creates different results."

Elsa looked thoughtful "So, if I train enough, I should be able to create fire?"

"I admire your curiosity, princess. I once asked my parents the same question. " Espen said, and Elsa winced internally. The only reason she had asked that question was so that she would be able to undo the effects of her accidental outbursts. Espen continued talking "But no. Our magic is completely unified with our minds and bodies for us to use other types of magic."

"Oh." Elsa mumbled dejectedly.

"After the basic energy, there's another type of magical energy, which is mostly used by elementals, although exceptions exist." Espen felt as if he was missing something very important "It is the energy, which when properly used, can do the impossible."

"Isn't our magic impossible enough as it is?" Elsa asked.

"Not impossible. At full strength, I can't outdo a volcano, and you cannot outdo a hurricane. With elemental energy, you can change the face of earth without moving a muscle."

If Elsa could get any paler, she would have.

"After that" Espen continued "there is another kind of energy, which cannot be fully understood." His expression turned grim. "It is the most powerful kind of energy in all of existence. Comparing it to elemental energy is like comparing the sun to a burnt matchstick. So far, only a select few have been able to use even the tiniest bits of this energy."

"And….. uh… Who are those people?" Elsa asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling, and failing.

"The children of God. At any given time, there are two, and only two of them on earth. Including Jesus Christ, the most popular. Joan of Arc comes second. Then there are the others- Queen Boudicca, the first one, whose name I can't recall, Karma herself, and the one who is yet to be revealed."

"Wait wait wait! Are you telling me that **the** fabled Celtic Queen Boudicca was a daughter of God? And Karma is and actual _person!?_ "

"Yes."

"And if there are supposed to be two at any given time, shouldn't there be several more considering that they have been around since before Jesus?"

"Oh, yeah. There are only two at a time, but the two of them walk the earth for a thousand years each. Then the next ones are born."

"I am quite certain that Jesus Christ did not live for a thousand years."

"What, you thought he was going to let the world know? I don't know how they do it exactly, but each one has a thousand years to walk the earth. After that, they become true immortal deities."

"Okay, so which two are the ones that are alive now?"

"The son of God of this millennium is still unknown. The daughter of God, however is **the** legendary Joan of Arc."

"…."

"Well…?"

"I have no idea what to say. I don't even know what I was trying to achieve through this conver… Oh! I wanted to know what you meant by me generating magical energy."

"About that… Can you feel something….. itchy, I guess? Or maybe comforting feeling in your heart? Or your spine, or in your head, maybe?

"Itchy _and_ comfortable?"

"I know it sounds weird, but it differs from person to person. Our powers in particular, are located in the mind."

Elsa squeezed her eyes shut. She concentrated, and realized that she could feel the familiar comfort of something unexplainable in her head. It was now that she realized what Espen meant by it being both comfortable and itchy. She had felt this all her life, but had never paid it much attention.

"Uhh… Princess? It shouldn't be taking this long. Not even for you."

Elsa leaned away from Espen's hand which was waving in her face.

"So? Can you?"

"Yes." Elsa said in relief, knowing that she finally did something right "I have been able to for as long as I can remember."

"Wait a minute, your whole life? Without it ever fading?"

"No. For my whole life, it's as if it's constantly beating like my heart."

"That means that you have constantly been producing energy for your whole life. And how long has it been since you let your powers loose before today?"

Elsa immediately became downcast, **the incident** flashing through her mind like a nightmare that would always haunt her.

"Nearly six months no…" Elsa replied, but was immediately cut off.

"Then how are you still alive?!" Espen said, his voice rising.

"Wha…. what do you mean?" Elsa asked, subtly scooting away from Espen.

"You really are stupid, aren't you, princess? Magical energy is no joke. If you have been generating magical energy at even half the rate you are now, your body should have exploded after the first month. The explosion definitely would have killed you, and would have taken the entire city with you. So, how did you manage it?"

Elsa wracked her brain for answers, and came up with only one solution

"My gloves…" she whispered.

"What." It wasn't a question. Espen's tone clearly said that what he wanted to say was 'Are you serious?!'

"My gloves…. They help me contain my curse."

"Huh. Espen said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the gloves which Elsa had discarded during their battle.

"Sooo, what kind of enchantments do these have? I'm pretty sure it isn't ordinary magic, 'cause I can't sense anything on them. Elemental magic, perhaps?"

"What? No! They are just ordinary gloves!" Elsa said as she snatched them from Espen's hands.

She looked back at the boy, only to see the most dumbfounded expression anyone could possibly wear. He slowly covered his face with his right hand.

"Oh princess" he groaned. Then he gestured to a tree a little way away from where they were sitting "Your magic, your _passive_ magic allowed you to survive going through an entire tree trunk. Now, don't say anything, but I'm sure that even you can figure out that ordinary gloves are no match for your powers." he said without looking up.

Elsa's curiosity got the better of her, and she got up and walked towards the tree which Espen had pointed out. What she found shocked her. The clear silhouette of a girl was visible through the whole trunk of the tree, and a similar foot-deep indentation in the one beyond it. Elsa immediately turned around. With the flick of her wrist, all the snow was lifted off the ground and into the fjord, and Elsa could see the scars of last week's battle in the sand. It didn't take her long to figure out that the silhouette in the two trees was her own. Elsa's hands began to shake. She slipped on her gloves, and thrust her arms forward, letting her magic loose.

Elsa learnt a very important lesson that day- No matter how much she didn't want something to happen, there was a pretty big chance that it would. What she had wanted to happen was for her gloves to only become slightly cooler, and nothing else. What actually happened was that her magic leapt from her palms, tearing away at the gloves like the useless pieces of fabric that they were, and hitting the already freezing waters of the fjord. The result was instantaneous. Within the blink of an eye, the entire fjord was covered in a sheet of thin ice. The remains of the torn gloves limply fell to the ground leaving her standing in shock. She was so shocked, that she forgot to be shocked.

"Oh well" said Espen "It's winter solstice. This would have happened anyway. No need to worry about others noticing."

Elsa was still standing, shocked at what had happened. Her gaze kept drifting from her shredded gloves to the frozen fjord to her hands and back to her shredded gloves. Espen sighed and lobbed a fireball at Elsa's head. It was not meant to hurt her and it didn't. But it did make her fall over when it hit the side of her face. She blinked, then shook her head. She raised her head to look at Espen.

"The gloves don't work?" Elsa half-stated, half-asked.

Espen got up from where he was sitting and walked over to where Elsa had fallen. He squatted down to her level and looked her in the eye.

"Princess, we are destined to wield enough power to move mountains, the power to surpass gods. Now, unless those gloves have the heaviest of enchantments, along with ne-something crystals, I don't see how they are going to stop your powers."

"But….. But it has worked for this long!"

"Princess, who told you that ordinary gloves could stop your powers?"

"My Papa did."

"And how much do you trust him?"

"Completely."

"And that's the answer. My parents told me that our powers act based on what we think. Because you thought that your power would be stopped by ordinary gloves, it was. Right now, when you doubted your gloves, they couldn't stop you."

"So, I was concealing my power the whole time? The gloves had nothing to do with it?"

"Nope. All you."

Elsa took in a deep breath.

…..

"YEEAAAAAAHH!" Elsa yelled in joy, for the first time in her life.

Espen fell back onto his butt in shock.

"Okay, princess, what's the ye-"

"HAH! I can conceal my powers!"

"Nope."

Elsa's mood came crashing down, along with her body.

"What do you mean, 'nope'? You just said that I could!"

"Not indefinitely. I also said that you will explode if you try."

"W-wait, does that mean that I have to keep using my powers from time to time?"

"Yes. At least until you can control creating magical energy."

"Teach me!" Elsa almost yelled, her voice quivering.

"Whoa there, princess, controlling magical energy is not something you can learn in a day. At least, not for us. Unlike normal magicians, we were born with the ability to create energy. While normal magicians have to learn to produce it, we have to learn to stop, start, and increase it at will."

"Then teach me! I don't care how long it takes!"

"Are you sure? It took me five years."

"Yes."

In Elsa's eyes, Espen could see determination which rivaled what she had shown during their first battle. Espen fully knew why she wanted to learn to shut down the source of her magic. _She wanted to permanently conceal her powers._ But Espen kept his anger in check, and stopped himself from throwing the girl next to him through the castle.

"Fine." he grumbled.

Elsa's expression brightened considerably.

"But I have a few conditions."

Elsa's hopeful expression dropped a bit, but she remained silent.

"First. You will not refer to your powers or mine as a curse. If I ever hear you do that, I will hurt you so bad that you would want to destroy the world if it meant stopping me."

Elsa's face paled at the threat, if such a thing was possible.

"Second. You will do exactly as I say, nothing less. Of course, more is more than welcome. You will have to trust me completely."

"…"

"…."

"…"

"Well?"

"Huh? That's it?"

"What do you mean 'that's it'?"

"I thought that you would have at least two more threats and a dozen more oaths."

"Princess, I was not raised in a castle, nor was I raised among any sort of nobility. My parents are farmers, so excuse me if I don't know the art of oath-making. Besides, I think I covered everything."

"No. You left at least half a dozen loopholes."

"Rats."

"Either way, I accept."

There was a long period of silence, which lasted for several minutes. Both children were still quite tired from their previous duel.

"Sooooo…." Elsa said.

"Hmmm?"

"How do I control the creation of energy?"

"Uh…. I don't know." Espen mumbled sheepishly.

" **You what?"** Elsa's voice carried a deadly undertone, and her eyes flashed.

"I don't know how to explain it to you, okay? I'll have to ask my parents about how to explain it to your kind of person."

"My KIND of person? What is that supposed to mean?!"

"A person who refuses to accept her very nature."

"Hey-!"

"Tell me, do you possess the strength do destroy walls, without using ice? No, you don't. Your magic hasn't manifested properly. You are still a mere human in terms of physical strength. My power was never incomplete. That is why I can do what I can do. But you, princess, no matter how I look at it, I can never see you as someone destined for greatness. When I first saw you, yes. I did think that you could be a legend. But now? No. Not at this rate, anyway."

Elsa was silent. It was true that she had never pushed the limits of her power. She never needed to. She had never needed to be faster or stronger.

"So, for this week, we'll continue our training as planned. Of course, that means toning down the fights a little. I can't train you if you're exhausted."

"Fine" Elsa said in a resigned tone "when do we start?"

"Today, as soon as your parents finish their afternoon visit."

"So soon?"

"Well, yes. First of all, I need you to find a map of all the secret tunnels in the palace."

"How am I supposed to do that?!"

"I don't know…. Aren't you a princess? Don't you have a few just lying around somewhere?"

"NO!" Elsa shouted in indignation.

"Come on! You have to know where the secret passages in the castle are!"

"You are a foreigner who hasn't been in Arendelle for over a fortnight, and you are already asking for the map to the secret passageways of the castle. You do know how bad that sounds, right? And how is it important anyway?"

"I'd say it's quite important unless you want me to fly you out the window every day."

Elsa's face went red.

"I… uh…. I'll just find those passageways, yeah?"

* * *

 **A/N:- I really hate to be the one to say this, but I'm not going to be able to do any of this until April 15th. Exams. Really important ones.**

 **On the bright side, I have finally managed to generalize the plotline for the six sequels of this story!**

 **R &R! Always a pleasure!**


	8. Happy Birthday, Elsa- Part 2

**A/N:- I seriously doubt that any of Elsa's birthdays have been happy. But still, why not?**

 **DISCLAIMER:-** **I owned naught but the plot and OCs yesterday, own naught but the plot and OCs today, and will probably own naught but the plot and OCs for the rest of eternity.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 7**

 **Happy Birthday, Elsa!**

Elsa hid behind a suit of armor as two guards passed by. If she was caught, she'd have a lot of explaining to do. Once she made sure that the coast was clear, she once again sprinted through the corridor, towards her father's study.

After Espen had launched both of them into her window through her room, the first thing she had done was kick him out. Then, she changed her clothes and waited until her parents showed up, stowing the clothes Espen had bought under her bed. After grabbing a blank book and a pencil, she had set out of her room in the middle of the night, and was now ducking behind furniture to avoid detection.

Elsa peeked around the corner. Once she was sure the hallway was empty, she ran through it silently, and ascended the flight of stairs that awaited her at the end. After another minute of running, she made it to the door of her father's study.

She pressed her ear to the keyhole, but heard nothing. She tried the handle, but the door was locked. She clenched her gloved fists. "It's okay, Elsa. You can do this. You won't lose control." she murmured to herself. She took in a deep breath, and removed the glove on her right hand. She pressed her palm to the keyhole, and let her magic do its work. She exhaled, and her magic solidified into ice. She turned the newly formed ice key, and the lock clicked open.

She carefully opened the door so as to avoid any creaking. Elsa's luck held, and the door swung open silently. She put on her glove and made her way to her father's desk, and opened the secret panel which she knew was at the back of the second drawer from the bottom on the left. Just as she had expected, a map of the castle had been carefully placed within it. She removed it and unfolded it, laying it down on the floor. She took in another deep breath, and focused on the air in front of her forehead. In her fight with Espen, she had noticed that he had been able to summon plenty of attacks without his hands. He had made the fire respond to his will, not his body. No reason why she couldn't do the same, right?

It was small at first, but a crystal of ice began to form in front of her. Layer upon layer of ice materialized, forming a diamond-like structure. Elsa willed it, and the crystal began to glow with a blue light. She looked at the map, which looked like any ordinary map of the castle. She frowned. This had to be the map. Why weren't there any markings on it. Elsa picked up the map. This made no sense. But just as she lifted the map, something caught her eye. She held the map against the moonlight, and previously invisible pathways appeared on the map. Elsa allowed herself a small grin of accomplishment.

Ice formed on the four corners of the map, and Elsa held it in midair. As quickly as she could, she made rough drawings of all the secret passageways in her book. Once she was done, she quickly folded the map and put it back, throwing all her magical ice into the fireplace.

For several years to come, Elsa would ask herself:- Why? Why did she choose to peek at whatever was on her father's desk? Perhaps it was morbid curiosity. Either way, Elsa would wish that she had never set her eyes on that damned book.

Elsa was barely tall enough, but her eyes just barely managed to catch a glimpse of an open book on the desk. She did not know why, but she climbed onto her father's chair, and summoned another ice crystal to give her light.

 _Another failure. Have to look for more options. Powers going out of control._

 _Exorcist?_

 _"What?"_ Elsa thought as she read the last entry. She couldn't believe that her father would call for an exorcist to get rid of her powers, right? This had to be something else. She flipped over to the first page, and began reading through the entries. Her eyes widened, and she began frantically turning through pages, hoping that she was wrong. But all she found were pages upon pages of entries such as

 _Cure._

 _Poison?_

 _Witchcraft._

 _Add cure to food._

 _Cure failed._

 _Fire?_

 _May need to keep Elsa in her room permanently._

 _Control improved_

 _Magical seals?_

Elsa nearly fell off the chair in horror at the several avid diagrams and pictures of exorcisms, Jotunn, and detailed descriptions of the multiple plans which had been used to try and get rid of her powers. Normally, she wouldn't have been bothered that her parents were trying to rid her of her powers, but wasn't burning her soul going a little too far? The idea had been crossed out, but it was still there.

Elsa stumbled towards the door, her magical ice floating alongside her. After locking the door, she bolted down the passageways to her room, not caring if anyone saw her. She closed the door, and jumped into her bed, letting tears flow freely. Ice began to form over every surface of the room as Elsa let her emotions out.

They were her parents, for God's sake! They weren't supposed to try spiking her food with random prescriptions and poisons to get rid of a curse! They weren't supposed to be attempting exorcisms on their daughter!

But Elsa could handle that. She knew, that she deserved it for hurting Anna. But what hurt her was that there was not a single mention of her birthday. Throughout the book, which contained entries spanning eight years, there had not been a single mention of her birthday, or anything else for the matter. The closest thing to concern that appeared in the book was regarding her broken nose, but that had been immediately ruined when she saw the next entry, which mentioned that they had tried to put something directly into her blood by lining the insides of the bandages with another apparent 'cure'.

Elsa tried her hardest to forget the most horrifying entry in the book. She hadn't read every page, but nothing could possibly be worse than that one.

 _Send Elsa to a sorcerer._

She couldn't believe it. Despite having seen it with her own eyes, she refused to believe it. No one could have such bad luck as to be cursed since birth and have parents that didn't want them. She had always believed that despite her curse and her failures, her parents still loved her. But that one entry was proof that everything she had thought was wrong.

Yet, she refused to believe it. It wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible! _How could this possibly get worse?_ Elsa thought. Much to her dismay, it did.

"Hey, Princess! How's it… Whoa, what's with the indoor winter wonderland?"

"G-Go away" Elsa sobbed "I don't want to deal with you right now." Espen hopped in through the window, the thin spikes of ice cracking under his feet. Immediately, several large spikes formed from all nearby surfaces and pointed themselves at Espen, stopping an inch away from his neck. Espen froze.

"Okay, princess" he said, slightly nervous "You can put the spikes down." One of the spikes extended a little more and touched his throat. But as soon as it made contact, it shattered. Espen raised his eyebrows in confusion. He lightly swung his hand around, and the spikes shattered with ease. He didn't even have to use any power. The spikes were hollow, and the empty shells were paper thin.

Espen casually walked over and threw himself next to Elsa on her bed. He turned towards Elsa, who was sobbing face-down into her pillow, completely uncaring of what Espen was doing. Espen frowned.

"Hey, princess! Don't ignore me!" Espen said, annoyed. Elsa ignored him.

Espen grumbled "Why are you crying, princess?" He really wasn't suited for handling emotional stuff. That was his parents' forte. His method of solving was using either his fists or his fire or both. He was barely nine, for crying out loud! He wasn't supposed to be dealing with sobbing princesses! Espen burst into a cold sweat when he realized that he had been presented with a problem that fire and fists couldn't solve. _Hmm. Not directly, anyway._ Espen thought.

"I've got an idea, princess!" he said, jumping up from the bed. Elsa paid him no attention. "Come on, princess! I know just how to make you feel better!"

"Leave me alone." Elsa said, her voice shaking.

"Punch me." Espen said as he walked over to the middle of the room. "It's great for stress relief! And that's from personal experience!" Elsa continued sobbing. "Give it a try. You won't know if it works unless you try."

Elsa reluctantly got off her bed, still crying, and stood before Espen, before punching him weakly. It wasn't even a punch- it was more as if she had limply launched her arm at Espen's chest. She continued crying, streams of tears rolling down her cheeks. Her entire world was collapsing, and she couldn't find the will to do anything at the moment.

"You can do better than that, princess" Espen said "Turn sadness into anger. It's more productive that way."

Elsa only subconsciously registered his words, but it was enough. Until Espen had shown up, everything had been fine. She had been keeping her powers in check well enough. She could have lived in ignorance that her gloves were useless, that her parents put unknown mixtures into her food and bandages, that her parents were thinking of sending her away, that she had the power to defeat gods, and that would have been fine. Ignorance was bliss, indeed. But _he_ had to ruin it. Now, she was an even greater threat to those around her than before, and it was all his fault. Elsa clenched her fists, and her eyes turned a bright, intense blue, and unbridled rage towards the boy in front of her erupted within the girl.

Espen watched as Elsa's form trembled, completely forgetting to check the flow of magic around him. It was only when he realized that every single spike of ice in the room was pointed at Elsa, that he bothered to open his magical sense.

A vortex of magic surrounded Elsa. Her tears had frozen. She looked up towards Espen, and he saw the intensity of her gaze. It was the same as when they had first fought, only this time, her eyes were glowing as well. It was at this moment that Espen noticed that something was terribly wrong.

"Princess?" he squeaked, but it was too late. Elsa's magical aura was compressed in an instant, and was channeled into her left arm. All the ice in the room was lifted into the air. She delivered an extremely powerful blow to Espen's chest. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull as he was thrown back with incredible force into the fjord. Espen broke through the ice with a crash, melting quite a bit of ice around him. After ridding himself of his disorientation, he swam to the surface. He looked around, and was genuinely surprised to find himself mere meters away from the edge of the fjord at the opposite side of the castle. He quickly made it to the edge.

"Wow, that actually hurt." he said to himself, rubbing the sore spot on his chest. "So, she finally managed to turn magical energy into physical strength, but the only way to get her to do anything is anger." he mused as he set off across the frozen fjord. Near the wall, he once again used the technique he had used to propel himself to the top of the North mountain. The steam under the ice launched him straight towards Elsa's room. Since it was night, any fire would be seen, so he couldn't change course much midair. Once he was completely inside the room, he allowed himself to let off a burst of flames to prevent crashing into the ceiling.

Elsa was sitting on the bed, hunched over, gasping for breath. That strike had completely drained her, and she was pretty sure that she had sprained her wrist. She barely noticed Espen enter the now ice-free room. All of it had been flung out the window.

"See, I told you it would work. Although, can you hold back a little next time? That actually hurt." Espen said. He sat down next to Elsa. "So, how do you feel now?"

"You know what? I actually feel better. Except my wrist." Elsa said, cradling her wrist.

"If you listen to me, it'll heal in minutes."

"Fine. What do I have to do?" Elsa asked, displeased with the circumstances.

"First off, you need to focus on what you felt just before you punched me."

Elsa huffed "I felt…. angry. I really wanted to hurt you." Her eyes widened in horror at the realization that what she had said was true. "I- I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to." She hung her head.

"Okaaaaay, not those feelings. I'm talking about how your magic felt."

"I…. I don't know." Elsa said, shaking her head "I just….. _wanted_ to get rid of you. My magic sort of flowed through my body… It was all instinctive!"

"Try to recall those feelings. Try to make yourself angry, but don't hit me this time!"

Elsa chuckled lightly, before focusing on her powers. She pried open several mental barriers, allowing her powers to manifest around her. An aura of blue light surrounded her, and it began to snow lightly.

"You're doing great, princess. Now, instead of turning it to ice, focus your power into your arm."

Elsa's aura shrunk, and her body began to glow slightly. Elsa's face was scrunched up in concentration, her eyes squeezed shut.

"Oka-" Espen began, but was interrupted when he broke Elsa's concentration, causing her entire body to be encased in ice. The ice shattered, and Elsa took in a deep breath. "Not bad for a first try, princess. I nearly set my house on fire when I tried that the first time. How's your hand?"

Elsa flexed her wrist, and much to her surprise, only a stinging sensation remained. "It feels….. fine. How?"

"Our magic can be used to heal. I don't know exactly, but my parents told me that a small part of the original ingredient was added to the potion which created our powers. I forgot the details."

"How do you forget _anything_ about magical powers that you have been born with?!" Elsa whisper-yelled indignantly. If she wasn't feeling so tired, she'd have punched him again.

"Hey, I'm not exactly a brainy person, okay?" He said, jumping up from the bed "My job is to beat up bad guys and be awesome!" He flipped through the air and landed on his feet, his hands spread apart, alight with crimson flames, casting an eerie glow across his face.

"Eww, that makes you look creepy."

Espen's face fell "Rats. I wanted to look awesome."

"On the bright side, I found the map of the castle's secret passageways."

Espen immediately went from dejected to ecstatic "Really?! Show me show me show me!" he said, inadvertently getting way closer to Elsa than she was comfortable with.

"Yes, really." She said, pushing Espen away with one hand, and pulling out her notebook with the other. Espen snatched the book from her hands and eagerly flipped through the pages. But within a minute, his expression fell yet again. He looked at Elsa sheepishly.

"Ummm, so where do we start?"

Elsa gave him a small smirk of victory. She took the book back and flipped the pages until she found the one she was looking for. The one with her room.

"Let's see….. According to this, there is a trapdoor in the wall behind the fireplace." Elsa said. Espen knelt in front of the opening and lit his hand on fire, casting light into the fireplace. It was incredibly clean, which wasn't surprising considering that it hadn't been used for over six months now.

"Can't see anything." Espen said. Elsa ducked and entered the fireplace, and summoned an ice crystal which reflected the light of Espen's flames.

"Here" she said "you're supposed to push the third brick from the bottom on the left wall." She pushed the brick. It gave way, and the whole section of the wall swung inwards.

Espen grinned like a madman "Let's go!"

Elsa looked at him as if he was stupid. "Are you stupid? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"It's the middle of the night! What better time is there to explore secret passageways?"

Elsa refrained from telling him that it was actually two in the morning, but decided to let it go. She supposed it was logical, though. During the day, they might be heard, but at night….

"Alright, follow me. And put out your fire. Wouldn't want to burn anything."

Espen was confused "What are we going to use for light?"

Elsa pointed at the ice crystal which she had summoned, and it began to glow, illuminating the passageway. Espen let out a low whistle. He bent over and followed Elsa into the fireplace. Elsa's ice crystal floated over her head, giving her enough light to read her notes and drawings. The passageway was small and narrow, but it was large enough so that two thin children could walk through it side by side, without needing to stoop.

"Where are we going?" Espen asked. Elsa's stomach chose that exact moment to let out an embarrassingly loud rumble. "Ah. We're going to the kitchen."

Elsa was sure that at that moment , her face was hotter than any fire Espen could ever hope to produce. Princesses' stomachs weren't supposed to make noises that loud!

"It's not my fault!" Elsa protested "I'm just really tired and I haven't eaten enough today!"

"A princess-sized birthday cake isn't enough?!"

Elsa went from embarrassed to dejected. She had just realized that she hadn't received anything for her birthday. No presents, no cake, not even a single mention of a birthday.

"I didn't have one." Elsa said, sadness evident in her tone.

"Well, then I say it's time for a midnight snack! Tell me you've at least done this before."

"I have, but not in a while." Elsa said, reminiscing memories of her and Anna sneaking into the kitchen to make magically enhanced chocolate ice-cream. Those days now seemed like they had occurred years ago. She made several turns and went down a few flights of stairs, and suddenly stopped just before an intersection.

"What now?" Espen asked.

"It's right here." Elsa said "The latch should be in the ceiling." Both Elsa and Espen looked up. Espen made a loose fist and summoned bright yellow flames in it. The light blinded them both for a few moments, but once they were able to see properly, a circular mechanism made itself visible. Elsa didn't need the book to know what it was. She had memorized this lock when she had copied the map.

"Okay… These circles have to be rotated until the Arendellian crocus is formed."

"So, we rotate them until we get it right?" Elsa's gaze narrowed as she focused on the mechanism. It consisted of four rings and a central circle.

"No. I'm going to solve this." The circles turned within Elsa's mind, and in under a minute, she had it figured out. "Espen, turn the outermost ring to the right a bit." Elsa turned the innermost ring at the same time. "The one inside that needs to be turned halfway." She turned the second ring while Espen turned the third. Elsa proceeded to properly align the third and fourth rings.

"What now?" Espen asked.

"Now, we have to push the center piece and lift the door at the same time."

"You mean the door opens upwards?"

"Of course it opens upwards! Otherwise if someone opened it from above while there were people below, they would get crushed!"

"I didn't think of that, but then isn't opening it going to be a problem? We can reach the door easily enough, but we're too short to open it."

"Oh." Elsa leaned against the wall, and looked around for anything that she could use. Espen began pacing up and down the passageway, hand to his chin.

"I've got an idea!" Espen said a minute later, snapping his fingers.

"What?"

"Make an ice block in here! I can stand on it and push the door open!"

Elsa looked mortified "Something as big as that? Even if I was emotionally stable, that would be hard to do! If I tried now, I'd probably fill all the passages in the castle with ice!"

"Ahem! _fire wielder_ Ahem!" Espen said between fake coughs, gesturing at himself so obviously that no one could possibly ignore.

Elsa was in two minds. On one hand, she really did not want to do something on that scale. Whenever Anna had annoyed her too much by asking her to play in the middle of the night when she was really sleepy, she'd accidentally cover the entire room with a meter of snow which took _forever_ to get rid of. If she tried a staircase now, when she was far more emotionally vulnerable, there was no telling what could happen. She wanted to go back to her room and mope. But on the other hand…

"I really want a post-birthday treat. Espen, stand there." She instructed. She stood across Espen, both of them facing each other, with the door between them. Elsa took in her surroundings. Espen was standing in the middle of the intersection. This way, no ice would go where she did not want it to go. She took in a deep breath "Get ready."

"Go ahead, princess." Espen said, two fists full of fire at the ready in front of him. Elsa closed her eyes and raised her hands in front of her. She loosened her grip on her powers, allowing them an instant of freedom. She shaped her magic in the eye of her mind. Once she had completed her structure, she tried to cut off her powers. They pushed against her will, but Elsa kept them in check. Normally, they would have escaped explosively, but Elsa figured that the fight against Espen must have taken a lot out of her. Which is why when she opened her eyes, there was only a light dusting of snow in her immediate surroundings.

The ice block was positioned perfectly. It came up to Elsa's stomach and was made of perfectly clear ice.

"Good work, princess." Espen said. He hopped up onto the block, and actually had to bend quite a bit. "You push the center piece, I'll push the door." Elsa nodded and pressed the circular piece. It sunk into the stone. A latch clicked, and Espen pushed the door halfway open. "You climb out and hold the door." Elsa quickly did as Espen instructed. She grabbed the side of the door. But as soon as Espen let go of the door, she was almost crushed by its weight. Espen jumped out and took hold of the other side, completely opening the door with ease. Espen's magic made him much stronger, so lifting stone doors wasn't much of a bother.

"We're in the storage room right now." Elsa said. Her magical ice crystal floated through the door, illuminating the room slightly.

"All right!" Espen said, his fingers twitching in excitement. "Where's the turkey?"

"Turkey?" Elsa asked in confusion.

"You know, the Christmas turkey?"

Elsa's hands flew to her mouth. She would never know if it was in horror or to contain her laughter. "You can't be serious!"

"Just think about it! The looks on everyone's faces when they realize it's gone!"

"That's evil." Elsa said, trying to convince herself that it wouldn't be fun. "But turkey aside. This is my castle. My rules. I'm deciding what we're stealing."

"Okay, what do you have in mind?"

"Check the pantry over there and get a loaf of bread, plenty of sugar and some nuts. Then get some chocolate, which should be somewhere over there. I'll handle the rest."

Espen moved towards his destination, while Elsa headed towards the cold storage. In winter, the outside air passed through the room, but in summer, ice was brought in regularly to keep the room cold. Elsa created an ice key and opened the door. She picked up a large bowl of cream which was less than half full. No one would notice it was missing anyway. She locked the door behind her and pocketed the ice key. It would probably come in handy.

Elsa staggered over to where Espen was waiting. "Let's go."

"Go where?" he asked.

"My old spot. The secret passageways just make it easier. Go down, I'll toss you the food."

Espen jumped down the opening and pushed Elsa's ice block to the side. Elsa carefully dropped the large bowl of cream. Once Espen caught it, he set it down on the ice block. Elsa tossed the rest of the material down to Espen before jumping down herself. Espen proceeded to jump out again to close the door. Once it was closed, Elsa spun the rings of the puzzle, locking the door. She pocketed the nuts and the block of chocolate and tucked the loaf of bread under her arm.

"You carry the cream, I'll read the map." Elsa said, while Espen vaporized the ice with a burst of fire. She took out her notebook in her free hand while her ice crystal floated over her head. She turned the pages, double checking her route. By the time she had made it halfway, she had already memorized the rest of it. Half a dozen turns and a few stairways later, they ran into the end of the passageway. Elsa turned to her left and found the one brick which had an Arendellian crocus carved into it. It gave way, and the door opened inwards. But another obstruction was present. Elsa frowned an consulted her notebook.

"This shouldn't be here." She said, puzzled. Had she taken a wrong turn somewhere? Espen set down the cream and touched the obstacle.

"Princess, this is wood. I'm guessing it's a dresser or something." Espen said.

Elsa dived into her memories, trying to recall what was outside the door.

"Or maybe….. It's a copy of Aunt Arianna's portrait." Elsa said "It should swing to the side."

Espen pushed, and the portrait did move. Elsa went through the gap. She held the portrait sideways while Espen carried the cream through. She let go, and the portrait swung back into place.

"How did you know it was that portrait anyway? Your memory must be amazing!" Espen said.

"Well, it's not completely creditable to my memory. The portrait is…. unforgettable."

"What do you….." Espen began as he turned around "Oh. Never mind."

The portrait was indeed unforgettable. The woman in the portrait was sitting on a horse with a rose in her teeth, a sword in one hand, cake in the other, with an owl perched on her cake forehand, while being surrounded by an assortment of objects including two dogs.

"I don't know whether to laugh or throw up." Espen remarked.

"When I saw it for the first time, neither did I."

"Who is she anyway?"

"Queen of Corona. Married my papa's brother."

"If she's a queen, then why on earth is she dressed like that?!"

"I have absolutely no clue." Elsa said "Come on, I'm hungry."

Elsa opened another door with an ice key, and led Espen up the stairs.

"Where are we, princess?"

"This is the main tower. Highest place in the castle." They reached the top, and Elsa pointed at a spot on the roof. "See that latch there? Unlock it."

Espen put down the bowl of cream and jumped. Unlike the secret passageway, this was an actual room, so the ceiling was four meters off the floor, but it presented no problem to Espen. As soon as he flicked open the latch, the trapdoor swung downwards, and a foldable ladder unfolded along with it. Elsa went up the ladder, followed by Espen. Once they had made it to the top, Elsa folded the ladder and closed the door. She was not going to risk getting caught tonight.

"So, this is your secret hiding spot? Rather dusty." Espen said. The slanting roof was half as high as that of a normal room at its maximum, and boxes and random objects littered the room, along with a fine coating of dust.

"No. My hiding spot is even higher." Elsa fiddled around with a portion of the ceiling which she could reach, and that section of the roof swung open, revealing the night sky. "Come on, through here." Espen followed her through and was promptly silenced in awe. The northern aurora was clearly visible, leaving bright streaks of green, blue, yellow, red, and several more colors in the sky. The ribbons of color twisted and turned in the air, giving the young boy a truly majestic view.

"Stop gawking. You'll have to get used to this." Espen turned around and found that Elsa had climbed to the top of the tower, and had already set down the food she was carrying on a circular table made of ice. The table completely surrounded the tip of the tower, and Elsa was sitting inside the circular area. Since she had made it, it was perfectly balanced on the slanting roof, and it also prevented her from accidentally sliding off the roof. Espen walked up the slope and set down the bowl of cream on the ice construct.

"You seem to be unnaturally enthusiastic about using your powers tonight." Espen said, narrowing his eyes at Elsa. Her eyes widened, and a light coating of frost began to spread from her feet.

"I…. It's just that I've done this so many times with her that I forgot… Never mind that. Come to this side of the table."

"What are we making?" Espen asked as he climbed over the table.

"We're going to be making my special chocolate ice-cream sandwiches!" Elsa said "And because you are here, we can toast the bread too! Finally something useful for you to do."

"Glad to know that my powers are useful because I can toast bread." Espen grumbled. Elsa raised her hand, and a spoon made of ice appeared. She added the nuts and the sugar to the cream, and began stirring.

"Melt the chocolate into this, will you?"

"All right, but stop stirring for a second." Espen put the block of chocolate in the mixture, and pointed his finger at it. In a matter of seconds, the chocolate melted completely. Elsa resumed stirring, occasionally adding bits of ice to the mixture.

"Could you make a knife for me to cut the bread?" Espen asked.

"Sure. Here you go." The portion of the table in front of Espen warped, forming a handle. Espen grabbed it and pulled, and the rest of the knife followed.

"Wow, you're quite good at using your powers for this kind of stuff." Espen said. He began cutting the bread, not noticing how Elsa gritted her teeth as frost began to crawl over her skin.

Once Espen was done toasting the bread, he laid back with his back against the roof and his feet against the base of the table, staring at the northern lights. Elsa finished mixing the now frozen cream and spread it out between the slices of bread. She took one sandwich for herself, and gave the other to Espen. Espen took a bite of his sandwich and chewed. Two seconds later, his eyes widened.

"This is incredible, princess! You didn't tell me that you were a cook!"

Elsa took a bite of her own sandwich as well. "You're right, it does taste better when the bread is toasted."

Espen shook his head "This isn't about the toast! I'm talking about the ice-cream sandwich as a whole! It's amazing!"

"Thank you." Elsa said sincerely, looking down at her sandwich. She couldn't make sense of the boy next to her at all. Last week, he had wanted to kill her. He had almost killed her yesterday, but now he was helping her make sandwiches and complimenting her on top of that. She focused her attention on her sandwich. Thinking about Espen was far too confusing for her.

Elsa sat down next to Espen, and began devouring her sandwich. Before she knew it, both sandwiches were gone.

"Is there enough ice-cream for another sandwich?" Espen asked hopefully.

"Three more for each of us. And help me make them. I'm not your servant."

"Sure thing, princess." Espen said as he stood up next to Elsa.

Throughout the night, the aurora lights shone down on the two young wielders, who ate their ice-cream sandwiches in silence, content with being able to relax.

* * *

 **A/N:- I would normally give an excuse for not updating in months, but I have none. I have everything planned out for this story, including the significance of Godric's sword cutting the power cake in half, and if you squint at a paragraph in my other story 'Dominator of the Universe', you'll notice that Elsa is indirectly mentioned, and that isn't even supposed to happen until 26 years post movie! It's just so frustrating when I know exactly what to do and how to do it, but my brain refuses to convert ideas into words.**

 **P.S. There's roughly 1,800 views on this. Is it really that hard to leave a review saying 'Good job!' or 'You misspelt "could" as "culd" at so and so point in the story' and** **such? You don't even need to login to review!**

 **I feel as though reviews help me grow as an author, so any and all reviews are welcome. Any questions regarding this story will be answered in the next chapter.**

 **-Phoenix 7.49**

 **Next time- Enhancement.**


	9. Enhancement

**A/N:- I know that this is long overdue, but I got too wrapped up in writing the epilogue to my RWBY story. Well, onto the next chapter. After the review responses, that is.**

 **Story lover xx :- Espen was _born_ for the sole purpose of destroying the descendant of King Erik. What do you _think_ is going to happen? And half a dozen death threats have already been made.**

 **DISCLAIMER:-** **I owned naught but the plot and OCs yesterday, own naught but the plot and OCs today, and will probably own naught but the plot and OCs for the rest of eternity.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 8**

 **ENHANCEMENT**

"Remember, princess, deep breaths." Espen said, sitting opposite to Elsa in a meditating position on a snowy cliff edge. Today, Espen was teaching Elsa how to control the production of magical energy. It was nearly noon, and they had only started an hour ago, because Elsa had slept in after their late night adventure.

"Focus completely on your mind. You should only be aware of yourself. Your surroundings mean nothing. Don't be distracted by any distractions.."

Elsa opened her eyes and frowned in confusion. "Are distractions not called distractions because they distract you? If I do not get distracted by a distraction, then how is it a distraction?"

"See? Now you're getting distracted! Close your eyes and meditate! Allow none of your surroundings to bother you."

Elsa shut her eyes, and a vein bulged on the back of her neck.

"Steady your breathing."

Another vein throbbed.

"Calm down. I can hear your heartbeat."

Another vein appeared on her forehead.

"And for crying out loud, relax! Your back should be straight, not princess straight! Your muscles are too tense. And…"

"If you'd just shut up, maybe I might be able to focus!" Elsa yelled. The snow under her reacted, and she began sliding towards the cliff edge. "Whoa!"

"Remember, princess. Stay completely calm, and you'll stop moving." Espen said, not even moving from his spot. Elsa screwed her eyes shut, and concentrated as hard as she could, similar to what she used to do to prevent outbursts of her power. The snow beneath her hardened and stopped, stopping Elsa a meter away from certain death.

"Good. Now, will the ice to move you back here. Remember, you control the power, not the other way around." Espen said, his voice perfectly calm. Elsa let loose a long breath, and willed the snow to move her back to her original spot. It was a slow process, and it took her a lot of willpower not to let her powers explode in every direction. Slowly, she managed to manipulate the ice and snow under her to move uphill. It was tedious work, and more than once, Elsa felt her power try and force its way out.

It was a battle between Elsa's magic and her willpower. The victor was obvious.

"I don't get it. You were excellent last night. What happened to you?"

Elsa grit her teeth. Last night, she had forgotten about all her problems. For a while, she had thought that is was just her and Anna again. She had done everything instinctively. She had used her powers for the exact same thing multiple times, and her body had done everything on its own.

Elsa brutally shut down her powers. The ice and snow went still, leaving her exactly where she wanted to be.

"Okay, that was acceptable." Espen said "But holding your powers back isn't going to help. It's like an old, broken dam, or at least that's what my parents told me. If you want to build a strong dam, you have to completely destroy the old one. Otherwise, the new dam will be unstable. You have got to destroy whatever mental wall you've built to keep your powers in check. I could sense it breaking partially during our last fight, but not quite. Which is why you first need to learn how to use your powers internally."

"I don't get it. Internally?"

"I don't know how to put it exactly. I suppose it's something like using your magic for strength instead of creating ice. Jumping over mountains kind of stuff."

"And you have absolutely no idea regarding how to accomplish that?" Elsa asked. It wasn't even a question. She did have hope that the overpowered idiot in front of her could teach her something, but she wasn't holding her breath.

"Hey, I wouldn't say _no_ idea." Espen protested "I can do it, you know."

"All right, fine. Tell me how."

"Sure! First, let your energy flow through your body, and then go!" Espen said enthusiastically, leaping off the cliff with tremendous force. The snow, which Elsa was barely holding together was destabilized, and she slid off the cliff. Gravity took hold, and Elsa found herself unable to breathe. Through the corner of her eye, she saw Espen high in the air, which also meant that he wasn't going to be able to save her. She doubted that he would even try.

Elsa fell through the air, speeding up continuously. Which was bad enough, but was made worse by the fact that there were rocky outcrops jutting out from the cliff face. Elsa closed her eyes. Was this how it would end? If she was being honest, she was expecting her death to come in the form of an angry mob wielding torches, pitchforks, and shotguns. And then she'd be burned at the stake, only that she wouldn't even be affected, and then she'd be stabbed and shot to death. Her name would go down in the history books, and eventually become a horror story for children.

Now, she'd become a random skeleton in the middle of a valley, which some archaeologist would probably find in a few centuries, and eventually connect it to the missing princess of Arendelle, and probably assume that it was a kidnapping gone wrong or something. Probably. Her parents' hair would go white with worry, as more and more search parties would fail. They were probably better off without her anyway. If she stayed, her powers would go out of control one day. And of course, Anna, her sweet little sister would worry to no end, completely unaware of Elsa's true nature. She'd probably go into depression in a matter of months.

Elsa's eyes snapped open. No. For Anna, she had to do this. She couldn't let her sister worry. Elsa's thoughts warped reality, and ice exploded form her body. Enormous spears of ice pierced the cliff walls, bringing Elsa to a halt instantly. The jolt would have hurt, if not for the adrenaline in Elsa's blood. Her breath came in gasps, not because of using her powers, but because of the fall, which had been a grand total of ten meters.

Espen landed next to her a few seconds later. "Hey, I said no ice."

"Shut up! You almost killed me!" Elsa yelled angrily.

"Not this again. We've been through this. If this fall is enough to kill you, then you deserve to die. That's one less problem for me to deal with. Simple as that. So save your breath, and don't talk to me about nearly dying. Simply speaking, I don't care if you live or die. In fact, the only thing preventing me from killing you is the small chance that one day, you'll actually be able to give me a good fight. But so far, all I'm seeing is potential without drive."

"You're a monster." Elsa spat.

Espen looked down at Elsa, the left half of his face lighting up with blood-red flames. "Oh really? What gave you that idea?" He turned away and walked to the edge of Elsa's ice shelf.

"You have half a minute to find your way off this thing, and another minute to make it to the top of the cliff. Or have you forgotten our deal?" Espen said, as he jumped off the structure, towards the ground a hundred meters below. Elsa remained seated for a while longer.

 _"What a fool I was to believe that we could get along. I completely let down my guard last night. He acts friendly one moment, like a teacher the next, and like a monster after that. What is he trying to achieve?"_ Elsa pondered. But her thoughts were interrupted when she felt an explosion against the underside of her ice shelf. _"So this is what that damn nutcase was saying, giving me half a minute to get off this thing, and another minute to get to the top. I can't go down, I wouldn't be able to make it back up in time. So there's the sides, or upwards."_

A few more explosions destabilized Elsa's ice shelf, but she poured her magic into it, and it stopped shaking. The intensity of the attacks increased, and she quickly coated the rocky walls with ice, and perfect handgrips were formed on the cliff face. Elsa grabbed on with one hand, and threw her other hand out, causing her platform to be thrown to the bottom of the valley towards an unsuspecting Espen. She grabbed on with her other hand, and carefully aimed her feet towards where Espen would be, and ice magic shot out from the soles of her feet, blowing her socks and shoes off and launching the equivalent of an avalanche at him. Hopefully, that would buy her some time. She pulled herself up, little by little.

But she had once again underestimated Espen.

Fire danced all around her, melting all the handgrips she had created, save for the ones she was holding on to. A glance behind her revealed a blast of blue flames that would surely blast her off the cliff and to her death.

 _Unless…_

Elsa let go and jumped towards the ball of flames, and summoned as much snow as she could in half a second. Snow met fire, and the burst of steam knocked Elsa back onto the cliff edge.

Exactly as she had planned.

Elsa landed on her back, and took huge gulps of air. Her arms were sore from climbing. She groaned and sat up, carefully peeking over the cliff to see what had happened to Espen. She squinted, and could distinctly make out the form of Espen, who was just standing there.

Espen looked at the princess in disbelief. She couldn't have done that. She didn't have the guts. No way would she actually use his attack to her advantage. His enhanced senses allowed him to see her perfectly. And her expression was far more relaxed than normal. Every other time, her expression had been one of worry. But now, she was just assessing the damage, relieved if anything.

 _"Well, it isn't outright glee at outsmarting me, but it's a start."_ Espen thought. Energy surged through his body, and for him, time began to slow down. The path, if it could even be called that, which they had taken would be more suitable for mountain goats than people, and it had taken Elsa a long time to cross it. But at his speed, Espen didn't even need the path. A fifty meter drop to his right, a stone wall to his left, with an inch of rock to step on. He took care not to use too much power and destroy the miniscule path, and sped on up the mountains. Each step left a steaming footprint in the snow, and snow-covered pine trees rushed past him. Each step was taken with precision. He was using his power to speed up his mind, but it was too risky to go all out in terms of speed unless he wanted to destroy everything in his path. Soon enough, he found himself standing right behind Elsa, who was still looking over the cliff edge. His trip up the mountain had taken him a grand total of 45 seconds.

Espen leaned over Elsa, trying to find whatever she was looking for.

"Prin-" Espen began, but was cut off by a scream of surprise from Elsa. In her panic, she nearly jumped off the cliff, but managed to grab onto a rock at the last possible moment. Espen raised his eyebrows, watching her as she struggled to pull herself up.

"Don't….. sneak….. up…. on me…. like that!" Elsa grunted as ice began to from under her feet, attaching itself to the cliff face. Ice-steps were formed, and Elsa climbed back up.

"You need to learn how to sense energy as well."

"But first, I need to get back. It's past noon, and it's a long way back."

"Unless you manage to use your powers correctly, even a little bit."

"I can't learn how to do that in a day!"

"Well then, I suppose it's time to start running."

"Are you kidding? It will take me ten hours to get back!"

"So? What do you expect me to do about it? I'm not carrying you back." Espen's eyes widened as lightning of inspiration struck him. "Consider this to be….." he said, and orange flames came to life in his palms "… a trial by fire."

"I-I can't do this!" Elsa yelled.

"You only have two options. Either you stop being a wimp and a crybaby and get moving already, or you can continue your crying and let your parent's find out that you've been leaving the castle. I'm completely safe, just in case you try to blame me. I can handle any army they throw at me, or I can escape."

"There's no way I'll make it back in time! What am I supposed to do?!" Elsa shrieked, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"I've already told you what to do. Let your energy flow through your body and then go. It's more or less the same as the healing thing I taught you at night."

"Give me a better explanation than that!"

"That's the only way I can explain it. The reason why you can't understand is because you don't even try. You're figuring out the rest of this on your own." Espen said, jumping off the cliff for emphasis, using streams of fire to slow himself down.

Elsa ran her hands through her hair, almost pulling it out. This was it. She was truly finished now. There was nothing she could do now.

 _"Quit your whining!"_ Elsa yelled at herself internally _"He's right, you know. Acting like a baby isn't going to help you, and besides, it's beneath you. You. Are. A princess. You are supposed to handle much worse than this. If you can't figure out a way to get to the castle in an hour, then you don't deserve to be a princess! So quit whining, and get moving!"_

Elsa wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes. It was time to get serious. Her eyes darted around, looking for anything that she could use to her advantage, until eventually, she settled on the peak of the mountain.

 _"I can't believe I'm about to do this."_

* * *

Three ice stairways later, Elsa found herself fifty meters above the peak, on the top of the last stairway. She looked down and gulped. This was going to be risky. Very risky. One wrong move and she would be Elsa splat. Taking in a deep breath, she raised her hands. Magic sparked from her entire body, and an extremely steep ice slide began to form over the trees, and an occasional pillar of ice rose from the ground to support it. At the bottom, the slide curved abruptly into a ramp. Ice formed around Elsa's bare feet, and an instant later, Elsa was standing on a pair of ice-skates, made of ice.

Elsa gulped once again. She had no idea why she was risking her life. Her parents wouldn't punish her that badly. The top of the ice slide grew and flattened out, meeting the top of Elsa's third stairway.

 _"Oh, right. Because then I'll be kept under constant watch, and Espen will never be able to rid me of my powers."_

Elsa took a deep breath, before pushing off. She went slowly over the flat area, but the incline took her breath away. Her speed increased faster than she had anticipated. But it was still not enough. Elsa bent her knees, and aimed her palms backwards. A continuous, powerful blast of ice and snow sprung from Elsa's palms, increasing her speed so much that she had to form clear ice over her eyes in order to keep them open. Her surroundings blurred as she made her way closer to the ramp.

It happened in the time it took her to blink. One second, she was speeding over ice, and was airborne the next. Her hair whipped around freely in the wind, the braid not being strong enough to survive such winds. Elsa, didn't notice, and kept unleashing as much of her powers as she could through her palms and feet, the ice-skates forgotten. This was her first step she needed the speed to make it to her destination four mountains away.

The mountain she was aiming for was even larger than the one she had started off from, but due to the extra height she had made and her ice blast, she flew over the peak. Another ice slide was created in an instant. It was all or nothing, and Elsa didn't have the time to consider what she was doing. She had made the plan on the cliff, and now her body was merely implementing it. Her mind had no business in it.

Elsa began to lose altitude, and landed perfectly on the second slide, wearing ice-skates which had been created in an instant. The second slide steepened, and Elsa once again began to gain speed. Not letting up on her ice blast, she shot forwards. The second ramp flung her into the air, far higher than the first.

This was it. This was the last ramp she'd be able to go off. Ice shot from her palms and feet with even more power than before. Now the plan was to create an ice cushion after flying for as far as she could, and then run all the way to the entrance to the emergency escape route. Getting to the top of the first peak had taken over an hour to begin with. It would be a close call.

A small explosion went off in front of Elsa's face, but there was no smoke. Just fire. She looked down instinctively, and saw several more fireballs flying up at her.

Elsa was confused. They were slow enough for her to dodge easily, and she knew that Espen knew. _Then why…_ she thought, before remembering the incident which had happened an hour and half earlier.

 _Ah. So he is helping me, after all._

Elsa redirected her hands towards a ball of fire right under her. Ice became steam in an instant, and the explosion threw Elsa higher into the sky. Elsa aimed at the next one, and fired. And again. And again. A dozen fireballs later, she was literally over the clouds. Elsa was awestruck by the sight in front of her, before realizing that breathing had become significantly harder. She fell through the clouds, and this time, there were no more fireballs to keep her aloft.

Elsa was too weak to fly under her own power, and the most she could do was continue to propel herself towards the capital city of Arendelle.

Much to her surprise, it was almost under her, and from here, she knew exactly where the entrance to the tunnels was. She aimed for the tip of the fjord, and once she was above it, began to slow her fall with continuous snow blasts from her hands and feet.

The snow blasts served two purposes: Slowing her down, and creating a pile of snow for her to land in.

Elsa fell into the snow faster than she ever had before, but it didn't hurt at all. The snow moved out of her way on command, and she dashed off inland, where she had exited the secret tunnels earlier that morning. The door was hidden in a natural rock structure. Elsa swept aside the snow with her mind, and reached under a smaller rock where the latch was hidden. The something clicked, and Elsa pulled the door open. She entered the dark tunnel system, and locked the door after her. Ice shoes formed on her feet, and numerous glowing crystals of ice appeared along the tunnel walls, lighting it up. Each crystal lit up as Elsa approached, but stopped glowing once she was out of range, a mechanism which she had set up in the morning.

In her mind, the layout of the tunnels unfolded itself as she made her way to the fireplace in her room. She pushed a brick in the wall, and the trapdoor swung open towards her. She pulled herself into the fireplace and quickly locked the door behind her. She shed her training clothes and shoved them under the bed, quickly getting into her dress. She spared the room a quick glance, ensuring that nothing was out of place. Her training clothes were completely hidden by the excessively long sheets, her bed looked princess-like, her notebook was safely hidden among the multitude of books on her bookshelf, there was no ice from the previous night, Espen was in the window, everything she had knocked over in the middle of the night was back in its place…

Wait a minute…..

"What are you doing here?" Elsa whisper-shrieked.

"Well, you left me a lot of work to do. Destroying all those stairs and slides. I'd already made it to the fjord, and I had to go all the way back. So I expect a thank-you."

"The only thank-you you will be getting if my parents see you here is a shotgun to the face!" The latch to Elsa's door clicked, and Elsa panicked. Time seemed to slow down as she saw the door slowly opened.

But it was also this slowing of time that allowed her to see Espen launching himself from the windowsill into the room, towards the fireplace. Before the door could even open halfway, he had already hidden himself in the chimney. Elsa sighed in relief, and time returned to normal.

"Good day, Elsa." Her parents said in unison.

"Good day Papa, Mama." Elsa said, bowing slightly, hands clasped behind her back. As she did so, she came to a terrible realization. She had been so occupied with making sure that everything was in its place, she had forgotten to put on her gloves, the most important thing of all. How could she have possibly forgotten six months of indoctrination in six days?!

Along with her panic, frost began to coat her palms. When she realized what was happening, an idea popped into her head. She willed the ice to coat her hands, all the way up to her elbows, and then turned it completely white. With any luck, her parents wouldn't notice.

"It is rather cold in here, Elsa." Agnarr said accusingly, but without much hostility in his voice. But after what she had learnt at night, even the tiniest amount of hostility felt like a rowdy mob demanding her execution. Especially if it was her parents who expressed it.

"The window is open." Elsa replied curtly. Her response wasn't rude, but a princess was expected to be far more polite.

"It's too much of a risk, Elsa. What if Anna felt a cold draft from under the door?" Iduna chastised.

"Then she'd assume that the window was open, and that I like the cold. It's not like she would just assume it was magic out of nowhere."

"'She would' not 'she'd' Elsa. Agnarr lectured."

"Understood, Papa." Elsa said obediently. She hadn't gone against her parents this much in the past six months combined. It was time to cool down.

"Have you lost control since yesterday?" Iduna asked. Elsa went silent. Actually, now that she looked at it, she hadn't lost control in the past twenty-four hours at all. Sure, she had created vast amounts of ice, but that had all happened on her command. But her powers hadn't gone out of control one bit. If anything, it had been far too controlled. Well, barring the time she frosted over her entire room.

"Once." Elsa replied hesitantly. "But I got rid of it. I threw it into the fjord."

"Elsa, simply throwing it away is not going to solve the problem. What will you do if there is no fjord to throw the ice into? What if there's too much ice to throw into the fjord? What if this happens in summer? Any ice in the fjord will be spotted instantly." Agnarr said, frowning.

"I understand, Papa." Elsa said, hanging her head in shame.

"Remember, sweetie" Iduna said, kneeling down and placing her hand against Elsa's cheek. Elsa had to forcefully stop herself from flinching. This was not only her mother's hand, but also the hand of the woman who had lined the inside of her bandages with an untested cure. "You can control this curse. I believe in you."

 _Not very reassuring, given that you were desperate enough to consider shipping me off because I couldn't control it._ Elsa thought spitefully. _Wait, did the temperature just go up a few degrees?_

Elsa' eyes darted over to the chimney. Her parents couldn't see anything, but somehow, she could. She saw Espen through the bricks, or more precisely, saw his energy. It was radiating off him in violent waves. The last time Elsa had managed to sense his energy was when she had been about to enter the city, before he bought their training clothes. Except back then, the waves had been uniform and smooth. He had been calming her down then. But now, the waves were erratic and broken.

 _He was angry._

Elsa had first-hand experience of what he was like when he was angry. And she did not want her parents anywhere near him when he was angry. But it took her another instant to realize the worst part.

His energy was interacting with hers. His energy was more trained, more intense, and far more powerful than her own. His energy was reshaping her own, forcefully controlled energy. Her senses were heightening, and she could tell that Espen's energy had overwhelmed her own.

 _It was making her angry._

Being of the same origin, even if they were opposites, both Espen and Elsa's powers were connected. What one felt was passed on to the other. But Espen had trained far more than Elsa had. He was magnitudes stronger, and so Elsa didn't just sense his feelings. Instead, they awakened similar feelings of rage within her.

"Papa, can I learn ballet?" Elsa asked suddenly. She was grasping at straws, trying anything to keep the anger away- both hers as well as Espen's. Iduna frowned.

"What brought this on?" she asked. Elsa knew she had to word this carefully, or she'd never succeed.

"I discovered that it helps keep the curse in control." Elsa said, and the temperature went up a few more degrees. Her parents weren't as sensitive to temperature change as she was, so they didn't notice.

Agnarr and Iduna shared a look. So far everything they had tried had failed, so if there was even the smallest chance that this could work….

"We'll think about it." Agnarr said. "But first, you have to be able to keep the curse under control for one week straight. Then we'll talk about hiring an instructor. Espen's energy became even more violent. Elsa grimaced. What else was there…

"Can I also have books on Sanskrit, Chinese, and Japanese? Some books on yoga would be nice as well. Reading sometimes calms down my powers." Elsa lied. She had laid all her cards on the table. If Espen didn't calm down now, things would get ugly.

"That does not sound too unreasonable." Iduna said. "I shall have Kai or Gerda bring the books up to you from the library. But why the sudden interest, Elsa?" Elsa was extremely relieved because she could sense that Espen's hostility had reduced significantly.

"Just came across those themes in one of my books, and they caught my attention." Elsa replied.

"Is that all?" Agnarr asked. Elsa bowed politely. It was unusual for her to ask for anything to begin with, but today, she might as well have handed them a Christmas list. Well, technically Christmas was only three days away, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch.

"Then we shall take our leave for today." Iduna said. Elsa once again felt a spike of anger from Espen.

Elsa's fists tightened behind her back, struggling to keep the anger in check. It didn't ease her nerves when Agnarr held her arm, forcing her to bring it in front of her. Elsa hoped that he wouldn't notice her decoy glove.

"Always remember, Elsa: Conceal it, don't feel it. Don't let it show." He said, taking her hand in his own. Elsa withdrew her hand as fast as she could without making her father suspicious, for two reasons.

The obvious reason was that she didn't want him to realize that her glove wasn't cold because she had left the window open. But the second reason was that Espen's anger had become so palpable, that even Iduna had given the fireplace a glance. Elsa quickly hid her hands behind her back as her anger reached a crescendo. The air around her grew so cold that the air itself began to liquefy. Agnarr shivered as he walked out of Elsa's room and locked the door. The moment the door closed, Espen dropped out of the fireplace, blue and red flames dancing in his hair, as well as all over his exposed skin, and his clothes were smoking. He glared at Elsa and walked towards her menacingly.

But Elsa wasn't backing down. Espen's anger was fuelling her own. She stood absolutely straight, returning Espen's glare with equal ferocity.

 _"Those are your parents?"_ Espen hissed. Espen's aura was flaring against Elsa's, creating steam between both of them. "You call them your parents? They don't even deserve to be called scum, let alone…."

"Not one word against my parents." Elsa's voice cut through the air like a knife. Her voice carried a warning , which Espen understood completely:- One more word against her parents, and she would not hesitate to go all out against him.

Espen smirked inwardly. This was the perfect opportunity. He had just finished preparing his verbal assault, but a knock on the door prevented a battle that would have surely destroyed the castle. Espen's aura shrunk dramatically, and along with it, so did Elsa's feelings of anger. Instead, she was filled with overwhelming guilt. She knew that knock.

"Elsa! Do you wanna build a snowman?" Anna's cheery voice came from beyond the door. Espen looked at Elsa questioningly, who had hung her head and had turned around to look out the window. "You can't fool me, Elsa! I know you're in there! I saw Mama and Papa come out a minute ago. Just open the door, Elsa!"

Elsa grimaced, but said nothing. Espen quietly snuck over to the door, and took a good look at Anna with his powers. He could sense her presence, which was not much more intense than that of an ordinary human. But he also saw the remnants of ice magic, much more than what he had expected. Her frowned for a moment, but dismissed the thought by assuming that it was his senses which had sharpened, as well as the fact that his siblings were twins, which would have probably affected the residual amount of power within them.

"Elsa?" Anna's voice asked again. "Why don't you come out? Why don't you let me in? Say something!" Elsa remained silent, not trusting her own voice to remain steady. Eventually, after a full minute of deathly silence, Elsa heard the Anna's angry stomps going down the hall.

"Siblings are annoying sometimes, aren't they?" Espen asked, when he was sure that Anna was far out of earshot. Elsa clenched her fists, and her ice gloves shattered.

"It's complicated. You wouldn't understand." Elsa said. Espen winced. His relationship with his siblings hadn't exactly been at its best when he had left.

But he shrugged it off. "See you tonight then, princess." Espen said, stepping into the fireplace and opening the secret entrance. Elsa didn't even spare him a single look, but he didn't care.

He had a letter to write.

* * *

 **Eh, here we are. Elsa's start will be really slow, because in the movie, the _only_ thing that can set Elsa off is Anna. Threaten Elsa, and she won't do anything much. But threaten Anna, and it's goodbye Earth. And she sin't just going to tell an absolute stranger who has threatened her several times over her deepest and darkest secret. **

**All questions regarding the story will be answered in the next chapter. Just review.**

 **2,229 views, 9 reviews. I mean, come on! It's not that hard!**

 **-Phoenix.**


	10. Merry Christmas!

**A/N:- Please din't blame me for the wait. Blame my brother who is too lazy to download word and get to work. I've had to work on all five stories in progress, as well as the sequel to 'Dominator of the Universe'. But anyway, this chapter is finally here after a full week of work.**

 **Moving on to review responses:-**

 **YaBetterWatchOut:- Espen has literally threatened to kill Elsa multiple times over. Elsa would have to get hit by a nuke to be crazy enough to even consider a romantic relationship with him. And of course, once more, Espen was literally _born_ for the sole purpose of destroying the descendant of Erik. **

**DISCLAIMER- I own nothing. Probably never will. *Goes and sobs in a corner.***

* * *

 **CHAPTER 9**

 **MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

The air between Espen and Elsa distorted as their auras clashed. Elsa had accepted the fact that defeating Espen was nearly impossible in her current state, and had thus resigned herself to his training regimen instead of foolishly challenging him every day. She couldn't heal half as fast as him, and her old wounds would slow her down even further. So she did what logic dictated- train and become stronger first, then defeat Espen.

"Your powers are dependent on your will as well as your state of mind. If you are calm, your powers are calm, allowing your will to give them direction. Now, try again." Espen said.

Elsa let out a long breath and focused. For a moment, she chased away all thoughts of her surroundings, emptying her mind. She redirected her latent power completely inward, and forced it towards her left arm. Then, she amplified it. Espen held her left hand with his own, waiting for her.

Elsa's eyes shot open, and she made her move, and Espen responded in kind.

Their arm-wrestling match didn't look like much, but the forces involved were extraordinary. Espen had reshaped a boulder to have a flat top, upon which his and Elsa's elbows rested. In all their previous battles, Espen had overpowered Elsa with ease, but with every loss, Elsa began releasing more and more power.

It was still in vain, as Espen slammed Elsa's hand into the rock with enough force to break the bones of an ordinary person. Elsa had learned the hard way that Espen truly didn't care if he injured her, and had to learn quickly to keep her defenses active at all times. She barely managed to keep her focus through the pain, but she had ultimately succeeded. She had managed to strengthen her body to such a degree that even a bone-breaking impact would only serve to give her a minor bruise.

They had been training for hours, way before the sun had risen. Elsa's legs were sore from running, her abdomen from sit-ups, and her arms were sore from pull-ups, which did not help her in the arm-wrestling contest one bit. She couldn't exactly argue either, since Espen had done everything Elsa had a hundred times over.

"You're getting better princess, but you're not quite there yet."

"Did you learn it in a week?" Elsa shot back, and Espen had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

"Well, no, it took me five months."

Elsa allowed herself a look of smug satisfaction, before it faded away upon remembering exactly what today was. The sun was nearing the midday mark, and the training session was close to ending.

"You were looking pretty smug just a second ago. What happened?" Espen asked.

"Since when do you care?" Elsa snapped. She had long since dropped any pretense of friendliness towards the fire-wielder. He was the personification of everything she hated, and she would be damned if she spilled out her soul to him.

"I don't. It gives me more opportunities to mess around. You are blind when it comes to seeing potential for pranks."

"It's Christmas," Elsa relented "And I'll be stuck in my room, as usual." Espen looked puzzled.

"Didn't I already decide on what we're doing for Christmas?"

"If you did, then you didn't tell me."

"Yes I did. During our midnight snack."

"When did…. Oh no. You can't be serious." Elsa said in disbelief, remembering the one time their conversation had included Christmas.

"Yes!" Espen yelled, standing up, flames dancing in his hair. "We're going to steal the Christmas turkey from right under their noses!"

Elsa gave him a look that she would have given him if he had said that they would be training on the moon. Suffice to say, she didn't believe him one bit.

"Oh really? I suppose we can steal the whole table while we're at it?" she said sarcastically.

"No, you're not fast enough yet," Espen said, oblivious to the sarcasm. "I'll have to do all the work, but I can definitely get the turkey, though."

"Oh, do tell me. How are you going to steal it. If you steal it while it's in the kitchen, the cooks will get the blame, and no way can you just pick it off the dining table without anyone noticing."

"That's where you're wrong, princess!" Espen proclaimed with great flourish. "There is a way to pick the turkey off the table without anyone noticing. During grace, I can swoop in, take the turkey, and disappear into a secret tunnel before anyone notices!"

"You're nuts if you think you can pull that off," Elsa said "Besides, Anna wouldn't close her eyes during grace."

"That's why I need you to distract her!"

"How am I supposed to distract her?!"

"Aren't you the one who is always bragging about how smart she is? Can't you think of something yourself?"

"I can!"

"Then don't ask me!"

Elsa grumbled under her breath. He did have a point. If he was going to steal a Turkey, distracting Anna for just one second shouldn't be too hard. She looked up to see Espen stretching his legs.

"Let's have one more run. Give it all you've got!"

Elsa knew it was useless to argue. She had made a deal, and he wasn't leaving her any room to argue. She wanted to oppose him, to fight him and have her way, but she was reminded of the painful truth several times over- the gap in their abilities was just too wide. Not only did he possess more raw power than her, but he also had far greater control than she ever had. He could also accelerate himself to such speeds that he almost disappeared from her view. Whenever she tried to use his pride against him, he just shrugged it off and sent her flying. She simply could not stand up to him in her current condition.

But one day, she would beat him. She possessed a quality that he clearly did not- patience. She would wait years if necessary, but she would beat him.

Anger flooded her mind, triggering the release of the remnants of her power. She focused it into her lower body and ran after him, far faster than an ordinary human could.

Two hours later, Elsa was eating her lunch, when her parents came into the room. This was not entirely unusual, but it was still strange for Elsa to eat her food a full hour after it had been served.

"Good afternoon Papa, Mama." Elsa curtseyed, setting her food aside.

"Good afternoon Elsa." Her parents said. There was a prolonged period of silence. Their meetings had become less conversational as of late. Elsa quickly learned that aside from the regular princess lessons that her parents now gave her personally, there was nothing left for them to talk about, now that Elsa was too exhausted to use her powers most of the time, even accidentally.

She had given them an excellent demonstration which showed exactly how useful the gloves were. So her entire stash of gloves was packed into a chest and put who knew where.

"How are your powers acting?" Agnarr asked. Elsa winced internally. No 'How are you, Elsa'. She had been picking up on a lot of these small details more and more since the night she had found the notebook. Now that she thought about it, things had always been like this, and she hadn't, or had subconsciously chosen not to notice.

"I have been able to significantly improve my control." Elsa said. She picked up her knife, and gave it a light coating of ice, and then allowed it to float in mid-air. She made the knife spin slowly, before commanding the ice to release the knife. The knife fell into her palm, and the ice remained floating. She crushed it into a ball with her mind, and flung it out the window without so much as a twitch of a muscle. Her attention drifted back over to her parents, who were a little farther away than they had been before Elsa's demonstration. Their expressions were neutral, but once more, Elsa noticed far more than she did normally.

 _"Their expressions are far too neutral. And they've taken a step back. They're afraid."_

 _"It's not like spinning a knife midair did any good. Why didn't I use a spoon?"_ Elsa internally berated herself. But for some reason, she felt far less concerned than she should have.

 _"Maybe it's because of all that running. I'm low on energy, and I can't think properly."_

Elsa's hands suddenly coated themselves with ice, causing her to frown. "Accidents like this keep happening, though."

Agnarr and Iduna shared a look. Their daughter may have gained some semblance of control, but judging by the fact that her hands had gotten so cold that they could see the air itself beginning to condense, and the temperature of the room dropped several degrees. Not to mention the whole thing with the knife. The ice alone was bad enough, but now this on top of it? It would probably be best to go with Elsa's idea.

"We have agreed to let you take ballet lessons starting whenever you wish." Agnarr spoke.

Elsa bowed her head in acknowledgement. At least that problem was solved. Now to deal with the ice on her hands.

She flexed her fingers, and the ice crumbled. She let out a small sigh in relief. At least exercising halfway to death had its advantages. She now lacked the energy to maintain the ice gloves. What little magic she had performed had required her to consciously divert the energy which was being generated to restore her body. Ice-related accidents were something that wouldn't happen for several hours.

"You're doing well, sweetheart." Iduna said.

"Remember: Conceal it, don't feel it." Agnarr said.

"Don't let it show." Elsa finished along with her father. She wasn't even focusing on her words. It was more out of habit than anything. This exact same thing had been repeating every day for the past six months, with little to no change.

 _"Well, at least until two weeks ago."_ Elsa thought. She didn't know whether to feel guilty or smug about it. She stood and bowed as her parents left her room, shutting the heavy metal door behind them.

Elsa sat on her bed and frowned. She knew she was too tired to accidentally ice her hands over. She was too tired to do _any_ accidental magic at all.

She had lied to her parents for the first time in a long time. Not a lie of omission- she had told quite a few of those. This was a deliberate lie, intended to fool them. Her hands icing over was no accident. Instinct would be more accurate. Her powers had automatically activated as a defense mechanism. And she only knew of one thing, or person, who could send her body into a fight or flight state with just his presence.

Elsa's eyes went to the ceiling, but saw nothing unusual. However, she knew that Espen had been here mere moments ago. He had said that he would be exploring the tunnels. He must have passed by one near her room. Why he was here, she had no idea.

Elsa forced a little bit of her power into an active state, but this time, there was no reaction. Espen must have gone on ahead. She sat down at her table, and resumed eating, unable to focus on anything.

Elsa's mind was split in two. On one hand, she was glad that there was finally a plan to rid her of her powers. But on the other hand, she had no doubt that her life would have been much more stable without Espen in it. She had interacted with him for only two weeks, and everything had already gone to hell. If two weeks was enough to turn her life upside down, what would two _years_ do? She shuddered at the mere thought, and even her extraordinarily developed mind failed to come up with even more horrifying scenarios.

She finished her lunch and immediately collapsed on her bed. She knew it was unhealthy to lie down right after eating, but she was too tired to care. She was pushing her muscles to their limits for the simplest of movements, and it had been quite a few days since she had slept properly. Espen had taught her to energize herself, drastically reducing the need for sleep. She had been able to reduce her sleeping time by an entire hour per day, but she was nowhere near Espen, who only needed 12 hours of sleep per week. She removed all thoughts regarding the fire wielder from her mind, and her vision went dark.

When she woke up, Elsa wasn't sure that she had actually woken up. She could see nothing, and her surroundings were completely black. There was a flash of green, and her room was illuminated for an instant.

Elsa was now fully awake. At least that training had done some good. She was surprisingly alert for someone who had been awake for less than a minute.

It was nighttime. Elsa looked at the clock in her room, which was once again illuminated for a second by the northern lights. Eight o' clock. She had been asleep for about six hours, and she felt surprisingly refreshed.

Elsa knew it was impossible for anyone to feel perfectly normal mere hours after they had exercised to the point where their limbs were nothing more than wet noodles. She knew that her muscles had been torn, and it would take at least a few days for her to be back to normal. But this rate of healing was unreal. She already felt normal. Better than normal, in fact. Had she always been this light? It felt as if she had lost a few kilograms worth of weight in the time she took her nap.

"You've certainly gotten stronger," Espen said from the fireplace, and Elsa yelped. "You're improving surprisingly fast, princess."

"Stop surprising me like that!" Elsa whispered harshly.

Espen raised his hands "Hey, not my fault that you can't sense me. I was being obvious all day. I wouldn't even be surprised if Grandpabbie could see my every move."

Elsa frowned and glanced down at her hands, which were once again coated with ice. How had she not noticed it before?

"Come on, get ready! I overheard that dinner is in an hour! And that was ten minutes ago."

Elsa stepped into her bathroom and shut the door. She opened the tap, allowing water to flow into the bath. She didn't need to use the heating mechanism, but it was still there, because a lack of one in the princess' room would raise suspicion, should anyone find out. She rid herself of her clothes, and sat on the toilet while the bath filled up.

Half an hour later, Elsa emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped securely around her body, while using another to dry her hair. She had completely forgotten about the boy who was waiting for her right outside.

"About time!" Espen said "We only have 15 minutes to get there….. Why aren't you dressed yet?!"

In response, Elsa gave him a glare which would have made even the greatest of warlords back down. She pointed at the open window. "Out. Give me five minutes. Don't argue." Espen opened his mouth to complain, but Elsa held up a finger and her glare intensified. The angry light in her eyes was enough to instantly convince him that this would go much faster if he did what she said. He climbed onto the window ledge, and simply pulled himself up.

Elsa sighed in exasperation, before hurriedly dressing up in her training clothes. She never needed to wash them, because each training session ended the same way almost every single time- with her being thrown into the fjord. There was the problem of salt deposition, but being thrown into a river immediately afterwards fixed that. There was, in fact, a waterfall not too far from the entrance to the secret tunnel. The fact that she didn't, or rather, couldn't sweat only served as a bonus.

"You can come in now." Elsa said. An instant later, Espen swung into the room. He quickly opened the secret entrance in the fireplace and went in. Elsa followed wordlessly, closing the trapdoor behind her.

Elsa was honestly surprised by how quickly he had managed to memorize the path which he was supposed to take. Elsa herself had never been down this path, but from studying her notes, she had figured out which path led where. Just like that, they made it to the dining hall.

"Okay, I already opened the trapdoor when I was here earlier, so this shouldn't make much noise," Espen said, removing his shoes and socks. His eyes began to glow, his blue irises shining in the darkness. He stared at the wall with such intensity that Elsa thought that he was trying to look through the false wall made of solid stone.

 _"Scratch that, given the crazy things he can do, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually can see through the wall."_ Elsa thought.

Espen was actually trying to sense the body heat of the occupants of the room. When he was younger, he had realized that hot objects gave off light that could pass through solid rock, and even metal. Of course, there were some metals which blocked the light, but the wall contained none of them. He could see the blurry figures of Elsa's parents and sister, and also the servants in the room beyond the dining room, who were bringing the food. He pressed his ear to the false wall, and waited.

The servants had set the table in less than two minutes. The hemispherical metal covers were whisked away, leaving the table laden with food. Espen concentrated, and within seconds, he had identified the dish he intended to whisk away.

"Now _that_ is one large turkey." Espen said under his breath, so that only Elsa could hear him. He sharpened his sense of hearing. The plan had to be put in action any second now.

And there it was. The royal family had begin saying Grace. Espen pushed the false wall open as quietly as possible. Anna was seated facing sideways relative to them. Perfect.

"Distraction!" Espen whispered to Elsa. She took a deep breath, and allowed a diamond-shaped crystal of ice to form in her hand. She channeled her energy into it, and it began to glow. Elsa now changed the shape of the crystal, creating a single point of bright light on any surface she pointed the crystal at.

She aimed at her father's coat. His eyes were closed, so he wouldn't suspect a thing.

But Anna would.

She could see her younger sister's attention riveted upon the spot of light. Slowly, Elsa moved it onto a wall, and Anna's head followed. She kept moving it until Anna was facing away from the table.

Espen saw his opportunity, and took it. He dashed forth and jumped cleanly over the table, and tilted the plate upon which the turkey was kept so as to prevent it from flying off due to his speed. He landed softly, and continued his dash until he reached the wall. Much to Elsa's shock, he ran straight up the wall for a few paces, before jumping directly towards the entrance where Elsa was waiting. He conjured flames from the soles of his bare feet, providing him with a soft landing. In another second, he had slipped into the secret passage, and Elsa closed the false wall behind him.

The moment that Elsa closed the door, her distraction stopped, and Anna turned around to face the table after failing to locate the spot of light for several seconds. Only to notice that the table was one dish lighter than it had been a few seconds ago. Grace ended shortly afterwards, and both royal parents immediately noticed the missing turkey. They blinked, then exchanged a confused glance, and then blinked again to make sure that they weren't dreaming. Then they both turned to Anna.

"Sweetie, was the turkey not right here before Grace?"

"I don't know. My eyes were closed."

"I cannot believe we did that!" Elsa said as she pulled herself onto the top of the tower, which had unofficially become their late night snack spot. But since Elsa was a part of the decision, it may as well have been official. She conjured the circular table as usual. Since it surrounded the tip of the tower, it would not slip off unless it broke. Given that it was made by Elsa with the intention of not breaking, it wouldn't unless either of the two children really wanted to. She was hundreds of meters above the ground, and while a single misstep would spell instant doom for any ordinary person, it was a different story for Elsa. This was her area of expertise, and she knew exactly which precautions to take. She had done so with Anna several times, back when she could control her powers. Before the incident…

In the city, the clock struck twelve. Midnight. Once Elsa and Espen had successfully escaped with the turkey, they had immediately snuck it into Elsa's room, whereupon she had frozen it to prevent its aroma from engulfing her entire room. And it was a wise decision indeed, as the king and queen came up later with Elsa's dinner, while Espen hid himself in the secret tunnel along with the turkey. The king and queen had dropped several hints about the missing turkey, checking for any reaction from their daughter. Unfortunately, Elsa had taken to her princess lessons far too well. Throughout the conversation, she had maintained a perfectly neutral expression, although she was freaking out on the inside. She had also managed to reign in her ice completely, even under stress. Of course, the second her parents had left the room, she had covered every surface with a whole inch of ice. Espen had gotten rid of it all with just a look, but it made Elsa feel even worse. She couldn't afford to rely of someone who had openly declared his intentions to kill her.

But now, she once more had no idea what to think, something which had been happening far to often for her liking in the past week. What kind of killer stole a Christmas turkey for a midnight snack? And why was he being so friendly yet again? Why was _she_ being so friendly again? None of it made any sense.

Yet, she couldn't keep a fierce grin off her face as she jumped over the table. Why she was grinning, she didn't know. The only thing she knew was that for some reason, it felt extremely good to have tricked her parents.

Elsa's thought process was forcibly interrupted by Espen lighting his hands on fire momentarily. The flames disappeared, but Elsa could tell that he was still focusing his power. He took a deep breath, and held his open palms out in front of him, aimed at the turkey. He exhaled, and the entire turkey was defrosted in an instant. Steam rose off its surface, and a second later, the mouth-watering aroma of roast turkey infiltrated Elsa's nostrils. She was disciplined enough not to drool, but Espen was not.

"You're drooling." Elsa said.

"Blame your cooks for making something so amazing. Let's eat!" Espen said, rubbing his hands together.

"Wash your hands first." Elsa berated, summoning two snowballs out of thin air. She handed one to Espen. It melted slowly in his hands, and the water simply ran off the highly tilted roof. Elsa tried to do what she had always done before this. The last time she had come up here was when she and Espen had made ice-cream sandwiches. At the time, she had simply taken off her gloves. So it was now that she ran into a problem which she hadn't anticipated, but in all honesty, should have.

The snow simply would not melt. Now that she lacked the control over her powers, her own ice would not melt when in direct contact with her skin.

"Espen, a little help?" she asked. She did not want to. She did not want to seek help from the personification of everything she hated, no matter how nice he was acting right now.

Espen looked at her questioningly, and then looked down at the snowball in her hands. "Oh, right." He said. He glanced at the snowball, and it began to turn into liquid. Within seconds, it was gone. "Now can we dig in?" He asked, almost begging. This time, Elsa didn't blame him. Even her discipline was wavering when confronted with the tantalizing aroma of the royal roast turkey.

"Yes," she said, summoning a knife made of ice from the table. "Yes we can." The blade reflected the aurora borealis, and the two began eating heartily.

The turkey had been really delicious, and Elsa knew that for some reason, this one tasted far better than the last year's. She had eaten her half, which was a surprising amount for her. Espen had explained that it was due to her powers requiring a lot of energy, and the fact that she was actually working out now, so it was only natural for her body to demand more food. He had savored the taste as well, but it was clear that there was a lack of quantity. Immediately after they had cleaned every last bone (Espen had even eaten one. He said that it gave plenty of nutrients, something which Elsa knew, but still….) they had raided the kitchen once more, before heading out into the mountains.

Elsa was pouring all her focus into maintaining her speed, which was far higher than what any human was capable of. Under the cover of trees, there was little light from the aurora borealis. The sun wouldn't rise for a few more hours, so Elsa was relying on her ears to follow Espen without crashing into a tree. It wasn't completely reliable, though, and she had the bruises and cuts to prove it. She could only see darkness whenever she opened her eyes.

Today's lesson was about sensing life force, which was how Espen was getting through the forest at his current speed without hitting any trees. So far, Elsa's hearing was working well enough, but it didn't help when Espen ran straight up a tree trunk, causing Elsa to crash right into it at full speed.

"Owwww.." Elsa moaned, rubbing her forehead. Normally, crashing into a tree at that speed would have crushed anyone's skull, but now that Elsa's powers were actively shielding her, she ended up with nothing more than a few scratches and a bruise or two.

"That won't do, princess," Espen said, creating a ball of fire in front of him. It was perfectly round, and there were no flames around the sphere. Elsa would have described it as a miniature sun. "Being able to rely on hearing is useful indeed, but that's not what today is about. You need to be able to see everything, without your eyes."

He sat down with his legs crossed, and waited for Elsa to get up. She sat up and turned towards Espen. "Every living thing has something that allows it to be alive. What you are supposed to do is force your life force to expand, so that you can tell whenever it interacts with anything else. Again."

Espen stood up and took off, and Elsa had to push herself to her maximum yet again to keep up. She could not completely use her powers to enhance her body yet, which was why Espen was only using about one-tenth of his top speed for training.

He was also intentionally not allowing Elsa to take any breaks. He had learnt the hard way that if he gave her so much as a second to think, she'd find a way around his training. She had thought of using her ears to get her through the forest on the fly. He did not want to know what she would come up with if he actually gave her time to think. She was smart- far too smart. If he thought up a way of doing something, she'd probably be able to find two more.

For the first time in years, Espen actually felt threatened. He knew that Elsa was years away from even standing a chance against him in combat, but the speed with which she was learning was unnatural, even by his standards. She was smart beyond her years- nothing special there. He was far smarter than people twice his age as well, but Elsa put even his own smarts to shame. Not to mention what had happened during their first spar.

Somehow, Elsa had reached the highest level of power a human could reach while still being a human. The power to overcome pain and exhaustion through willpower alone. Entering a state of mind in which the body performed at levels that defied logic. Completely focusing on one objective only, and pouring everything into that one objective. It took normal people decades upon decades of rigorous training to be able to develop the mental discipline and willpower needed to enter that state. He was honestly afraid to find out to find out how on earth Elsa had achieved such mental discipline. More specifically, what had pushed her to achieve it.

Even so, without even needing to look back, he could tell that Elsa was learning too fast by normal standards. She was learning slower than him of course, but he had been a prodigy since birth. Elsa wasn't, and yet she was showing frightening adaptability. Even by his standards, something was not normal. This was supposed to be easy! What had gone wrong?

Espen nearly had a heart attack when he sensed Elsa speed up, and within moments, she was running parallel to him. His eyes widened, and he further increased his speed, but not to such a degree that would leave Elsa in the dust. He jumped onto a tree trunk, and now the chase was airborne. Elsa initially had difficulties in staying in the air, using tree trunks alone as stepping stones, but within half an hour of practice, she was successfully able to stay off the ground for ten minutes at a time.

Elsa was ecstatic that she was able to keep up with Espen. She was under no illusion that she was equal to him. She knew, and had accepted the vast difference between their abilities. She knew that she couldn't compare to him in terms of power and skill. If he really wanted to, he'd move so fast that he'd clear the whole area in which she could sense him in the blink of an eye. Not that she would blink much. She hadn't opened her eyes in the past hour.

She could sense Espen just a few trees in front of her, as well as which trees he was using as stepping points. He set his foot against he trunk, and Elsa was able to see exactly how his energy was moving, allowing her to predict his next movement. She knew that he was deliberately making it obvious, but she still felt a sense of accomplishment. He turned aggressively and shot downwards towards the ground, stepping on it for the first time in the last hour. Elsa stayed in the trees. In the air, she sacrificed the ability to change direction instantaneously, but she could go faster than she could when on the ground.

But Espen, even when on the ground, was still far faster than Elsa was. In short, all of Elsa's advantages had been taken away.

Another hour later, Elsa was once again sneaking through the secret tunnels, towards the kitchen. At this time of the day, they wouldn't find food anywhere in the city, and especially not on Christmas morn. Alongside Espen, she quickly gathered bread, chocolate, butter, sugar, strawberries, and cream. Within minutes, they were once more at the top of the tower. They set everything down on a new ice table, and began preparing strawberry-chocolate ice-cream sandwiches, an ide Elsa had come up with right after training. Hands were washed with summoned snowballs, and ice knives were summoned. Espen sliced the bread, while Elsa sliced the strawberries and added them to the ice-cream mixture. Two more minutes later, the two wielders were munching on two piles of toasted ice-cream sandwiches, Elsa's pile had well over a dozen sandwiches, and Espen's pile was at least twice as large. Training had thoroughly exhausted Elsa, and the training Espen was going to put himself through was going to exhaust him.

"I'll come by at three. Be ready." Espen said in between mouthfuls. Elsa acknowledged his words, but kept her focus primarily on the sandwiches. Her recipe had been a huge success, and she simply couldn't get enough of it. By the looks of how fast Espen was eating, he couldn't resist the taste either.

"Mmmmf 'kay." Elsa said with her mouth full, even though it went against all her princess lessons. But the taste was simply too good for her to bother with something so trivial as manners. Given the only person in her present company, it did not even matter how sloppily she ate.

The top of the tower gave the perfect view of the rising sun as it appeared from behind the mountains, and their long shadows completely covered the entire city. Slowly, the shadows began to recede, as the sun began to climb higher into the sky. Sunlight finally touched the tip of the tower, and Espen stood up, and finished off the last three of his sandwiches in a few seconds.

"Merry Christmas, princess." He said, and the sunlight hit his skin, infusing him with energy. Elsa only looked at him as he jumped off the tower with plenty of force, but not enough to damage the roof. Elsa squinted as the outline of Espen continued to shrink until he landed in the fjord with a surprisingly small splash. Surprising, because Elsa hadn't been able to sense Espen slowing himself down. So apparently, he was a really good diver as well. Was there anything he was not an expert at, save for politics and humanity?

Elsa banished those thoughts to the back of her mind. She summoned a four-inch thick slab of ice, and began to write on it. Once she was done, she hurled it with her mind to where she predicted Espen would exit the waters of the fjord. It flew through the air, and disappeared from view.

Elsa shifted her focus to her current target. Exhaling slowly, she raised her arms, and the entire table levitated off the top of the tower. Espen had said that hand motions had nothing to do with performing magic, just that it made it a little easier. Elsa remembered that she had used hand motions for just about all the magic she had done until the incident. She wondered if it was a psychological effect as well, not dissimilar to the illusion she had regarding the gloves. She knew that she could do ice magic without her hands, she had just done so, as well as when her arms were laden with so much food that there was no room for hand movements, but using her hands made it feel much easier, even though she realized that she was using the same amount of energy either way. She swung her arms as if she was throwing something, and the circular table followed her movements, and was sent flying into the fjord. No one would notice a flying table this early, especially in the poor lighting. It was only exposed to the sunlight for a few seconds, before it began descending rapidly. It crashed into the water with a huge splash, which Elsa heard a full two seconds after the actual splash. She nodded to herself in satisfaction, and slipped into the castle, and closed the opening in the roof.

Espen was proud to say that there were few things in the world that could surprise him. He had not expected a slab of ice to be one of them. As soon as he got out of the water, a slab of ice landed a few meters in front of him. He picked it up, and read the inscription.

 _Merry Christmas, Espen._

He did not know why, but he tucked it under his arm and headed back to the inn where he was staying. It had been quite a day. There was a letter that he needed to write.

* * *

 **A/N:- Elsa is finally beginning to show signs of progress. She's only been under the 'Conceal, don't feel' nonsense for six months only, and not thirteen years. Plus, she hasn't had the emotional withdrawal from her parents' deaths... Yet.**

 **Our logic behind Elsa progressing so quickly is that she is...well, Elsa. She has absurd levels of self-discipline, and not to mention the immense self-control that she is constantly employing to hold back an entire hurricane. Whatever she sets her mind to, she gets done. Elsa has plenty of willpower, except that her willpower isn't activated by her own desires, which kinda doesn't make sense. This is because in the movie, Elsa has been living in constant guilt for 13 years straight. She's far too selfless for her own good, except all that selflessness is directed at one person only. Three guesses who.**

 **Okay, major time-skips begin now. Next chapter will take place a few months after this one. Stay tuned, all my lovely readers! Next chapter ought to be done a week or two after... we figure out what to put in the next chapter. Yeah, so probably in three weeks. Probably a month since the earlier chapters need serious rewriting.**

 **As always, read and review! See ya around!**

 **-Phoenix.**


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